‘Michael’ Just Knocked Two ‘Lord of the Rings’ Films Down the All-Time Box Office Chart

The Michael Jackson biopic has spent weeks rewriting the record books, and the momentum shows no signs of slowing down. What started as a risky, big-budget bet for Lionsgate and Universal has turned into one of the defining box office stories of the year, with the film steadily climbing past icons of cinema history one milestone at a time.

‘Michael’ arrived in theaters back in April with a story tracing the King of Pop’s rise through 1988, anchored by Jaafar Jackson stepping into his real uncle’s shoes for the title role. Jaafar Jackson stars opposite Colman Domingo as Joseph Jackson, Nia Long as Katherine Scruse-Jackson, Miles Teller as John Branca, and Mike Myers as record executive Walter Yetnikoff, giving the film a sprawling ensemble built around the singer’s formative years.

Now the numbers have caught up with the hype in a big way. After earning an additional $13.6 million over the weekend, with $5.4 million of that coming from Japan, the film has reached a cumulative total of $959.6 million worldwide. That haul was enough to push ‘Michael’ past two beloved entries in Peter Jackson’s fantasy saga, with the film overtaking ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers‘ and ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ on the all-time global box office chart, surpassing The Two Towers’ $945.6 million and The Desolation of Smaug’s $959.1 million.

The achievement places ‘Michael’ in rarefied company on the all-time list. With this latest milestone, the film now sits at number 72 on the all-time global box office chart, followed by The Desolation of Smaug at 73 and The Two Towers at 75. It is a remarkable run for a music biopic, a genre that rarely competes with blockbuster franchises at this level.

Before climbing past Middle-earth, the film had already cemented its place in music biopic history. The movie became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time, dethroning the previous record holder Bohemian Rhapsody. Michael overtook Bohemian Rhapsody with $911.9 million worldwide, crossing more than 40 international markets where it had surpassed that film’s lifetime total, including Brazil, France, and Mexico.

Critics and audiences have not exactly seen eye to eye on the film, which only makes the box office story stranger. The film holds just a 38 percent Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences have responded far more warmly, reflected in a Verified Hot 97 percent Popcornmeter score. That audience enthusiasm has clearly translated into ticket sales, with word of mouth carrying the film through an unusually long theatrical run.

Internationally, the picture keeps getting brighter. The film posted the biggest global opening weekend of any music biopic, became the highest-earning domestic biopic in history, and surpassed La Vie en Rose to become France’s most successful biopic, while currently sitting atop Brazil’s annual box office chart. Jackson died in 2009 at age 50, and with the film’s success, Lionsgate is reportedly exploring a follow-up covering the years this movie leaves out.

With ‘Michael’ still climbing and a billion dollar milestone within reach, the conversation around Jaafar Jackson’s performance and the film’s staying power is only getting louder. Do you think ‘Michael’ deserves its spot ahead of those two ‘Lord of the Rings’ films on the all-time chart, or does the gap between its critic and audience scores make this box office run feel a little undeserved?