Canadian filmmaker Bryan Michael Stoller, a longtime friend of Michael Jackson‘s, hasn’t seen the upcoming biopic “Michael” … but he tells TMZ he’s got high expectations.

When we ran into Bryan in Studio City Monday, he told us he’s only seen the trailer for the movie like everyone else … but he already has a strong intuition for how his late pal would have accepted the film.

Bryan said having Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson play him would have been enough to win him over.

One thing he hopes the biopic gets right is how much Michael cared about the world and giving back.

Bryan noted, “He did so many charities, and he gave so much money, and he gave so much of himself, and a lot of the press didn’t cover that … he really wanted to make the world a better place.”

And it’s no surprise he hopes the movie steers clear of the sexual abuse allegations and subsequent trial Michael endured.

Bryan says he knew Michael for more than 30 years and never saw anything suspicious.

He insisted … “I wouldn’t have been by his side if I didn’t believe he was 1,000-percent innocent.”

Reportedly, the project had to film extensive reshoots, possibly to take out mentions of Jordan Chandler‘s accusations of molestation against the icon.

Michael’s legal team reportedly made a deal with the Chandler family not to include them in any movies about Michael’s life.