R&B/Soul
Janet Jackson announces film
Janet Jackson is releasing a concert film to mark 40 years of Control.
Janet Jackson is set to celebrate her landmark 1986 album Control with a new concert documentary titled Janet Jackson: Control 40.
The film will capture Jackson performing the album in full at Amerant Bank Arena in Florida, with multi‑camera recording scheduled for December 12.
Jackson said the show has been designed as a complete reinvention of the original era.
She explained: “It will be a whole new show – new costumes, new stage and maybe a little glimpse into the making of the album.
“It’s going to be filmed for a movie, which means that our time together will be remembered for decades.”
Alongside the full Control performance, the concert will include material from across Jackson’s wider catalogue.
Released in 1986, Control marked a major turning point in Jackson’s career.
The album became her first to reach No.1 on the Billboard 200 and produced a run of hit singles that reshaped her profile as a pop and R'n'B artist.
Five tracks - What Have You Done for Me Lately, Nasty, When I Think of You, Control and Let’s Wait Awhile - all reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100, making Jackson the first woman to achieve five top‑five singles from one album.
When I Think of You also delivered her first Hot 100 No.1.
The era set a further record with 65 consecutive weeks of Control‑related singles appearing on the Hot 100.
News of the documentary follows recent comments from Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson, who suggested the singer has been developing ideas for a biographical film of her own.
Jaafar, who portrays Michael Jackson in Antoine Fuqua’s biopic Michael, told GQ Middle East: “I don’t want to speak too early, but Janet has ideas of maybe doing her own film. So having someone portrayed in this and then choosing a different actor for her own is just…”
He also described how emotional the family became during an early screening of Michael, saying the support he received afterwards was a relief.
Jackson’s sister LaToya previously confirmed the singer had “kindly declined” involvement in Fuqua’s film about her late brother.
