It is official: The King of Pop has taken the crown on the field workplace, at the least as far as musical film biopics are involved. “Michael,” the Antoine Fuqua-directed movie centered on the late Michael Jackson, has formally overtaken “Bohemian Rhapsody” (which focuses on Freddie Mercury and the band Queen) to develop into the highest-grossing musical biopic ever.
As was first reported by Deadline, “Michael” has made $911.9 million in theaters worldwide because it heads into its eighth weekend. The subsequent few days will probably be dominated by “Disclosure Day,” which could possibly be Steven Spielberg’s largest field workplace hit in a decade. Nevertheless, it is the music of Michael Jackson that has etched its manner into the report books in an all new manner. The film’s complete simply barely places it previous “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which made $911 million worldwide, together with its 2020 and 2026 re-releases.
“Michael” dominated the field workplace on its opening weekend with greater than $218 million globally, together with a whopping $97 million home debut. The biopic has proved to have legs, regardless of stiff competitors from the likes of “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” “The Satan Wears Prada 2,” “Obsession,” “Backrooms,” and “Scary Film.” The summer time film season has gotten off to a scorching begin, however, even so, this movie has chugged proper alongside each in North America and abroad.
That success comes regardless of a scarcity of affection from critics. The film boasts a awful 38% essential approval ranking on Rotten Tomatoes, with /Movie’s Witney Seibold calling “Michael” an “overly-sanitized biopic of the King of Pop” in his assessment. Nevertheless, audiences have roundly disagreed. The movie’s viewers rating sits at 97%. It is a crowd-pleaser.
Michael has now made its manner into the field workplace historical past books
“Michael” stars Michael Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson because the late Grammy-winning artist. The film has courted controversy, as did the real-life pop star. Certainly, “Michael” needed to reshoot its complete third act amidst behind-the-scenes drama, which largely stemmed from a authorized subject associated to one of many individuals who have accused Jackson of sexual abuse. Regardless of that, Lionsgate, Antoine Fuqua, and all concerned managed to drag collectively one of many largest business hits of 2026.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” traveled a equally rocky highway, as director Bryan Singer (“X-Males”) was fired from the biopic and changed by Dexter Fletcher (“Eddie the Eagle”) mid-production. Critics have been equally blended on the top end result, however, all the identical, it grew to become a worldwide crowd-pleaser that shattered the ceiling for what a musical biopic may do on the field workplace. Rami Malek would even go on to win a Finest Actor Oscar for his work as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.
Will “Michael” topple every other information earlier than all’s stated and finished? Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is at the moment the highest-grossing biopic of all time, with $975.8 million to its title. It may be a stretch, however that is nearby if “Michael” can proceed to leg out abroad. Past that, becoming a member of the $1 billion membership could be a significant stretch at this level, but it surely’s not off the desk, both, particularly if there may be some form of re-release down the highway.
In the meantime, the success of “Michael” on the field workplace has all however assured a sequel will occur. Lionsgate will undoubtedly make it a precedence. Whether or not or not that follow-up can match the excessive highs of its predecessor stays to be seen, however that is a dialog for one more day.
“Michael” is in theaters now.
