Who plays John Landis in the 2026 film Michael?

Jono Petrie plays John Landis in the 2026 film Michael.

Landis is credited in Michael as the director of the Thriller music video, with Petrie's character listed as “Thriller Short Film Director.” The credit reflects the distinctive short-film structure of the famous video rather than a conventional brief music-video performance.

The film also includes Paul Hipp as Bob Giraldi, who directed the Beat It music video and the 1984 Pepsi commercial. Those two production figures are therefore connected to different filmed works in Jackson's story. Asia Fuqua plays Ola Ray, the co-star who appears opposite Jackson in the Thriller sequence.