‘Michael’ Becomes the First Music Biopic Ever to Cross $1 Billion
Lionsgate has spent the last few years searching for a major theatrical hit, and now the studio has finally found one. Antoine Fuqua’s Michael has officially crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, becoming not only the highest-grossing music biopic ever made but also the first Lionsgate movie to reach the milestone.
According to a report from The New York Times, the film passed the historic benchmark over the weekend, giving Lionsgate one of the biggest victories in its history. The movie had already broken records by becoming the highest-grossing music biopic ever, surpassing Bohemian Rhapsody, but reaching $1 billion takes its success to another level.
The road to this achievement was not an easy one. Several major Hollywood studios reportedly decided not to move forward with the project because they believed a Michael Jackson biopic carried too much risk. Concerns surrounding the singer’s legacy and the controversies connected to his life made many studios hesitant to invest in such an expensive production. Lionsgate chose to move ahead anyway, while Universal and Kino Films joined as international distribution partners.
That decision has now paid off in a huge way. Michael has become one of the biggest movies of 2026 and one of only a handful of films released this year to cross the billion-dollar mark worldwide. The success also comes after a difficult stretch for Lionsgate, which had struggled to produce major box office hits in recent years.
Lionsgate released 17 movies in 2024 but generated only $251 million at the domestic box office. That represented an 85 percent drop from the studio’s strongest year in 2012, when franchises like The Hunger Games, Twilight, Madea, and The Expendables helped bring in more than $1.7 billion domestically. As those struggles continued, many industry analysts believed Lionsgate’s best option would eventually be selling the company.
Instead, Michael has helped completely change that conversation. The New York Times also highlighted another surprise success for the studio, The Housemaid, which reportedly earned more than $400 million worldwide from a production budget of around $35 million. With both Michael and The Housemaid becoming major theatrical hits, Lionsgate has already confirmed sequels for both projects.
Sean Diffley, who leads media and entertainment research at Morgan Stanley, believes the studio has proven it can still compete on its own.
“They’ve proven they can operate on a stand-alone basis in an effective manner — that they can still create big hits and find fresh I.P. in a tricky market.” He also acknowledged that larger studios still have advantages, adding: “At the same time, there’s certainly a view in the market that scale matters.”
'Michael' has officially crossed $1 billion at the worldwide box office. What do you think was the biggest reason for its success?
The studio is already preparing for its next wave of releases, including a new Hunger Games film, additional John Wick movies, a Rambo prequel, Now You See Me 4, and Mel Gibson’s The Resurrection of the Christ. Lionsgate is also working on new versions of The Blair Witch Project and Saw.
For now, though, the spotlight belongs to Michael. The film has not only rewritten the record books for music biopics, but it has also given Lionsgate its biggest box office success ever. What once looked like a risky gamble has turned into a billion-dollar triumph, proving that the studio’s biggest comeback story came from betting on the King of Pop.
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