John Singleton's Egyptian Epic — Michael Jackson

THE FACT

Remember the Time was directed by 24-year-old John Singleton — fresh off Boyz N the Hood and the youngest Best Director Oscar nominee in history at the time. Its cast: Eddie Murphy as Pharaoh, Iman as Queen, Magic Johnson as the royal guard, and Tommy 'Tiny' Lister as the executioner. Michael never appears until the song's bridge.

WHAT MOST DON'T KNOW

Singleton was Michael's hand-picked choice for the film — Michael had reportedly been so moved by Boyz N the Hood that he had John Branca call Singleton's manager the morning after he saw the film. Singleton, by his own admission, had never directed a music video; the Remember the Time set was his first time choreographing dance for camera. The budget was $4 million — more than the entire production budget of Boyz N the Hood. The film was shot on a soundstage at Universal Studios with a built Egyptian throne-room set that took six weeks to construct. Magic Johnson — who had publicly announced his HIV diagnosis only two months earlier — agreed to appear partly as a defiant statement that his career was not over. Iman was paid the highest fee of any music-video model up to that point: $20,000 a day for three days. Singleton went on to direct Higher Learning, Poetic Justice, and 2 Fast 2 Furious; he died in 2019 of a stroke at 51.

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THE MOMENT

Michael Jackson — Remember the Time (Short Film, 1992) — Eddie Murphy, Iman, Magic Johnson — John Singleton directs.

SOURCES

Remember the Time — Wikipedia ↗