The new musical film about Michael Jackson has smashed the global box office record, grossing over $217 million (£160 million) in its opening weekend, the highest ever for a biopic. The film, which stars Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the lead role, was released midweek but quickly gained momentum across……
The new musical film about Michael Jackson has smashed the global box office record, grossing over $217 million (£160 million) in its opening weekend, the highest ever for a biopic.
The film, which stars Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the lead role, was released midweek but quickly gained momentum across international markets, including an X campaign which changed the like button to Jackson’s hat.
The new body of work beat the previous record holders in the genre, beating the $180m (£133m) taken by 2024’s Oppenheimer, giving the King of Pop the biggest worldwide opening weekend for a biopic of any kind.
According to the BBC on Monday, it has now overtaken 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody, which opened with $124 million (£91m), and also surpassed Oppenheimer, which made $180 million (£133m) during its opening weekend in 2024.
The performance establishes “Michael” as the strongest worldwide biopic launch in cinema history, with industry executives crediting the film’s broad appeal for its success.
Adam Fogelson, chairman of the film’s US distributor Lionsgate, said, “You don’t deliver this figure unless you’re seeing huge numbers across every conceivable demographic. [Audiences] are clearly having a blast.”
The film has gone down much better with audiences than it did with critics, several of whom complained that it depicted a “sanitised” version of Jackson’s career.
Reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes recorded a significant gap between the 38% average score awarded by critics, and the 97% average rating from audiences.
The film’s release follows a string of musical biopics over the last decade, which are seen by Hollywood as reliable box office hits.
Queen, Sir Elton John, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley, Amy Winehouse, NWA, Robbie Williams and Whitney Houston have all received the cinematic treatment in recent years.
According to BBC, the movie ‘Michael is financially backed by the late superstar’s estate and uses his original vocals for the musical numbers, which dominate the film.
Michael does not include any mention of the child sexual abuse accusations that were made against the singer.
Jackson always maintained his innocence, and was found not guilty of child molestation in 2005.
Filmmakers originally intended to include references to some of the allegations, but the footage was scrapped after the rediscovery of a historic non-disclosure agreement Jackson made with one of his accusers.
The third act of Michael had been due to centre on accusations made by Jordan Chandler in the 1990s, but a settlement Jackson made with the boy’s family at the time included a clause that prohibited the singer’s estate ever mentioning him in any movie.
The film was reworked and a series of reshoots took place after the discovery, and Michael now instead concludes in 1988, before any accusations were made.
Director Antoine Fuqua told Deadline over the weekend that the rediscovery of the NDA led to a “tough period” because the team had to “rethink everything”.
He said, “All movies have different challenges, but this one was unique,” adding that the team got around the issue by refocusing on Jackson’s musical career.
The resulting film leans heavily on recreated concert performances and examines the strained relationship with his father Joseph, played in the film by Oscar nominee Colman Domingo.
The costly reshoots contributed to the film’s sizeable price tag, reported to be around $200m (£148m), making it one of the most expensive biopics of all time.