The King of Pop has returned to the big screen – and the world showed up. Antoine Fuqua’s long-awaited Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, has delivered one of the most remarkable box office openings in recent memory, pulling in $217 million worldwide in its debut weekend.
The Lionsgate release earned $97 million domestically and a global launch of $217.4 million, according to Sunday estimates per The Hollywood Reporter. The result was a defining moment not just for the studio, but for the music biopic genre as a whole.
Those ticket sales rank as the best start of all time for a biopic, smashing the record set by 2015’s Straight Outta Compton, which debuted to $60 million. Heading into the weekend, analysts had been cautiously optimistic.
Michael had been tracking to open in the $65 million to $70 million range domestically, which would already have been enough to claim the biggest opening of all time for a music biopic. What materialised far exceeded even those revised expectations.
Jaafar Jackson moonwalks into history
At the centre of the film’s success is a breakout performance from Jaafar Jackson, the late star’s nephew. The long-anticipated film charts Michael Jackson’s rise from fronting The Jackson 5 in the 1970s to launching a solo career that reached historic heights, culminating with the release of Thriller – the best-selling album in pop music history.
Billboard Critics have been largely unmoved – the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes shows just 38% of reviews are positive, with the consensus saying the film, “mostly plays like a ‘greatest hits’ album that could’ve benefitted from including liner notes to give actual insight into the icon.” – but audiences clearly disagree. Those surveyed by PostTrak gave the film a 90% positive score, with 84% saying they would definitely recommend it.
The premium format performance was equally striking. Imax accounted for $13.8 million, or roughly 14% of North American ticket sales, and $24.5 million globally, ranking as the company’s biggest start for a musical biopic.
Lionsgate chair Adam Fogelson was effusive in his response to the result. Per Hollywood Reporter, he said the numbers reflected “the tremendous outpouring of love and affection from moviegoers around the world, underscoring the strength and vitality of the theatrical box office.” Adding, “If you give audiences what they want, they will come.
Records tumble as the globe responds
Overseas, the film’s performance was equally striking. The international opening of $120.3 million across 82 territories and 23,459 locations outstripped the offshore start of Bohemian Rhapsody and was well ahead of Wicked: For Good and Wicked. According to Deadline, the film ranked number one in 64 of the 82 markets where it opened, setting music biopic records in 63 of them.
Michael also notched the second-biggest debut of the year behind April’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which opened to $131 million. With a reported production cost of around $200 million – shared between Lionsgate, Universal and the Jackson estate – the film has significant ground to cover.
However, reports suggest that if global ticket sales surpass $700 million – as many industry observers expect – Michael will rank among Lionsgate’s highest-grossing releases ever. The film is also confirmed as the first installment of a planned two-part biopic Billboard, meaning Jackson’s story on screen is far from over.