‘Michael’ Just Became the First Music Biopic Ever to Cross a Billion Dollars Globally
Biopics rarely become genuine blockbusters, and music biopics especially tend to top out well before the billion dollar mark that action franchises and animated tentpoles reach with ease. That pattern has held for decades, with even beloved fan favorites settling for respectable but far from historic totals. It made the run that ‘Michael’ has been on since its spring release feel unusual from the very start.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jaafar Jackson as his real life uncle in his acting debut, ‘Michael’ chronicles the performer’s journey from the Jackson 5 to his status as the King of Pop. The film opened to 97 million dollars domestically and 217 million dollars globally, shattering the opening record for musical biopics set by 2015’s ‘Straight Outta Compton,’ which had made 60 million dollars. That start alone signaled that ‘Michael’ wasn’t going to follow the usual biopic trajectory.
The film has now confirmed exactly how far that momentum could carry it. According to The New York Times, ‘Michael’ has crossed the one billion dollar mark at the global box office, making it the first biopic in history to hit that milestone and the first billion dollar film ever released by an independent studio in Lionsgate. Along the way, the film steadily dismantled records set by two of the genre’s previous heavyweights.
‘Michael’ had already set records as the highest grossing music biopic and the highest grossing biopic of all time, surpassing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Oppenheimer’. For comparison, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ finished its run with around 911 million dollars worldwide, while ‘Oppenheimer’ had crossed roughly 975 million dollars before ‘Michael’ overtook both totals within a matter of months. The film also surpassed ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ as Lionsgate’s highest grossing release in the studio’s history.
Much of the late push toward one billion came from international audiences, particularly in Japan, where Jackson has long maintained a devoted fanbase. Strong performance in Japan helped push the film past the milestone, with the country’s history of embracing Jackson related projects offering an early sign of what was to come. Domestic audiences also kept showing up months after release, an unusual pattern for a genre that typically front loads its earnings in the opening weeks.
The road to release wasn’t smooth. Reshoots costing as much as 50 million dollars were required after the Jackson estate flagged a legal issue tied to a settlement clause prohibiting the depiction of accuser Jordan Chandler, forcing the production to rework its entire third act. Critics have also pushed back on the film for largely sidestepping the child sexual abuse allegations that marred the later years of Jackson’s life, a criticism that has followed the film since its premiere.
None of that friction slowed ticket sales in any real way. The film ends on the on-screen text “The Story Continues,” which has only fueled speculation about a sequel covering the later chapters of Jackson’s life. Whether or not that follow up ever materializes, ‘Michael’ has already rewritten what a music biopic is capable of earning worldwide.
With Jaafar Jackson’s performance now permanently tied to a billion dollar box office record, how do you think history will remember this version of Michael Jackson’s story on screen?
