Not Even an Earthquake Could Stop ‘Michael’ From Ruling Japan’s Box Office

Japan has long been one of the most devoted markets for Michael Jackson’s legacy, a country where his music historically transcended the usual barriers of language and geography, and where fan culture runs deep enough that theaters have reportedly seen audiences arrive in costume since the biopic’s global rollout began.

The film, directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by John Logan, premiered in Berlin in April and was released in Japan on June 12 through a Lionsgate partnership with local distributor Kino Films. The opening day in Japan set an immediate benchmark, clocking in at an estimated $2.3 million and landing as the second-biggest Hollywood opening day of the year in the territory. Those numbers signaled from the very start that the King of Pop’s home country away from home was ready to deliver something historic.

For context, a 4.2-star audience score in Japan sits directly in line with the legendary audience metrics carried by ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ during its own Japan launch, a film that ultimately generated $114 million in that market alone. Japan is historically one of the most significant markets for Michael Jackson’s legacy, and the second-highest-grossing territory outside North America for Jackson’s 2009 documentary ‘This Is It’ was Japan at $57 million, representing 21% of that film’s total global gross.

Then came the storm, literally. Despite two storms and an earthquake spreading chaos across Japan on Saturday, fans kept showing up for the music biopic anyway, with ‘Michael’ still holding at the top of the Japanese box office, grossing an estimated $1.7 million on its third Saturday alone, a drop of just 27.5% from the previous weekend. That resilience pushed its Japanese cumulative total to $23.1 million and quickly made ‘Michael’ one of the most impressive Hollywood performers of the year in the territory.

The comparison against ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in Japan gets especially striking when extended further, with ‘Michael’ hitting $22 million in fifteen days while ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ needed twenty-one days to reach a comparable $21 million, meaning the Jackson biopic arrived at that benchmark nearly a week faster. Globally, the film has already rewritten the record books. As of late June, ‘Michael’ has grossed $942.3 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Lionsgate film, the second-highest-grossing film of the year, and the highest-grossing music biopic of all time, surpassing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s’ $911 million lifetime total.

The global milestone also marks a remarkable career achievement for producer Graham King, who produced ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and has now surpassed his own previous genre record with ‘Michael.’ Jaafar Jackson, son of Jermaine Jackson, leads the film in his acting debut as the adult Michael Jackson, with the supporting cast including Colman Domingo as Joe Jackson, Nia Long as Katherine Jackson, and Miles Teller as John Branca.

Whether the billion-dollar mark gets crossed likely depends on how well the film continues to hold in Japan, which has been outpacing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s’ performance there at every comparable point. A sequel covering Jackson’s later life is already in development, with Lionsgate motion picture chair Adam Fogelson confirming the project is advancing and noting there is “a ton of incredibly entertaining Michael Jackson stories” and much of his most popular music catalog that the first film never had the opportunity to explore.

Not even the ground shaking beneath their feet could pull Japanese audiences away from their seats, so the real question now is whether that same unstoppable devotion can push ‘Michael’ across the billion-dollar finish line before the summer competition closes in on theater screens.