‘Michael’ Just Won’t Quit at Japan’s Box Office, Even With ‘Toy Story 5’ Storming In
Summer 2026 has turned into an unexpectedly wild season for Hollywood’s overseas performance, especially in Japan, where animated blockbusters and prestige biopics are somehow competing for the same crowds. Family franchises usually dominate this stretch without much resistance, and ‘Toy Story 5’ arrived expecting exactly that kind of runaway success. Instead, the Pixar sequel has run into an opponent nobody quite expected to still be standing this deep into the summer.
That opponent is ‘Michael,’ the Michael Jackson biopic that has spent weeks refusing to fade from Japanese screens. ‘Toy Story 5’ had already scored the biggest opening day for a Hollywood animated release in Japan post COVID, pulling in a solid $3.3 million on its Friday debut and knocking ‘Michael’ out of the top spot in the process. A record breaking arrival like that would usually be enough to bury a film four weekends into its run.
‘Michael’ had other plans. According to box office tracker Luiz Fernando, whose numbers have been closely watched throughout the film’s Japanese run, the biopic pulled in an estimated $1.4 million on its fourth Saturday in theaters, a modest 17.6 percent drop from the previous Saturday. That kind of hold, even while a juggernaut like ‘Toy Story 5’ is dominating screens, has become the real story of the film’s international performance.
The biopic’s staying power has pushed its cumulative Japanese gross to roughly $29.3 million, and with a fourth weekend reportedly tracking in the $3.1 million to $3.5 million range, it shows no signs of stepping aside. That total already makes ‘Michael’ the third highest grossing Hollywood release of the year in Japan, and analysts now expect it to overtake ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ for second place among Hollywood titles in the country as soon as next weekend.
Jaafar Jackson’s performance as his real life uncle has become just as central to the conversation as the numbers themselves. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, ‘Michael’ carries a price tag near $200 million split between Lionsgate, Universal, and the Michael Jackson estate, and marks Jaafar Jackson’s acting debut in a role loaded with personal and cultural weight. He’s joined by Colman Domingo and Nia Long as Joe and Katherine Jackson, with Miles Teller and Laura Harrier rounding out the supporting cast.
Japan’s connection to this particular story runs deeper than a single release cycle. The country has historically outperformed expectations for Jackson related releases compared to other international markets, a trend that traces back to the Kenny Ortega directed documentary ‘This Is It,’ which found a devoted audience there back in 2009. That history seems to be repeating itself, only this time against a Pixar sequel instead of a quiet awards season crowd.
Globally, the numbers are even more staggering. ‘Michael’ has become the highest grossing biopic of all time, earning over $977 million worldwide and surpassing ‘Oppenheimer,’ with a billion dollar milestone potentially just weeks away. ‘Toy Story 5,’ meanwhile, continues to thrive nearly everywhere else on the planet, making Japan the rare market where the toys haven’t quite managed to steal the show.
With both films still duking it out for Japanese moviegoers, do you think ‘Michael’ actually catches ‘Toy Story 5’ before its theatrical run in Japan finally winds down?
