Michael, Lionsgate’s biographical film about Michael Jackson starring Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop, has overtaken Bohemian Rhapsody to become the highest-grossing music biopic ever made. The film’s worldwide cumulative gross reached $911.9 million, clearing the previous record of $911.1 million set by the Queen story in 2018. The milestone makes it Lionsgate’s highest-grossing theatrical release in the studio’s history. Full box office analysis at Deadline and Variety.
The film’s climb to this record began with an extraordinary opening weekend. Michael debuted to $97 million domestically and $217 million globally — the best biopic opening of all time, more than 60 percent above the previous record of $60 million set by Straight Outta Compton in 2015. Lionsgate motion picture chair Adam Fogelson credited the breadth of its audience: “You don’t deliver this number unless you’re seeing huge numbers across every conceivable demographic.” CinemaScore came in at A-. Ticket buyers were 61 percent female and 66 percent were 25 and older.
Jaafar Jackson, the singer’s real-life nephew and a recording artist himself, plays Michael in his acting debut. Colman Domingo plays Joe Jackson and Nia Long plays Katherine Jackson. Antoine Fuqua directed from a John Logan screenplay, with Graham King producing — the same producer behind Bohemian Rhapsody, making King the only person to have produced the two highest-grossing music biopics in film history. The production budget was approximately $200 million, placing it among the most expensive biopics ever greenlit.
The international rollout was equally dominant. Sixty-five markets set opening-weekend records for the genre. Forty territories exceeded Bohemian Rhapsody’s entire lifetime gross within a single weekend. In France, Michael became the most successful biopic ever, surpassing La Vie En Rose. Brazil and the domestic US market also ranked as all-time records for a music biopic. Universal handled international distribution, with Lionsgate retaining North American rights.
Critics were mixed — Rotten Tomatoes logged a 38 percent approval rating from reviewers, who noted the film sidesteps the sexual abuse allegations that clouded Jackson’s later life. Box office analyst David A. Gross described it as “a feel-good, nostalgic appreciation” of Jackson’s artistry. Audiences disagreed with critics entirely, handing it an A- CinemaScore and driving repeat viewings across multiple weekends. The disconnect between critical consensus and audience enthusiasm became one of the year’s most-discussed entertainment stories.
The production required approximately $50 million in reshoots after the Jackson estate flagged a concern about how an accuser was dramatized in an early version of the screenplay. The final cut navigated those adjustments before receiving its wide release. Graham King and the studio declined to detail the specific changes beyond confirming the scenes were revised to the estate’s satisfaction.
For more entertainment box office coverage, read Eastern Herald’s breakdown of how Scary Movie 6 opened to a franchise-record $55 million this past weekend, and our report on Taylor Swift’s historic Songwriters Hall of Fame induction.
