‘Michael’ Is About to Cross $1 Billion and Rewrite the History Books on Music Biopics Forever
The ‘Michael’ Jackson biopic is on the verge of doing something no music biopic has ever done. The film is expected to cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office before next weekend, a milestone that would make it one of only two films to reach that threshold at all in this theatrical calendar year, and unquestionably the most commercially successful portrait of a musician ever put on screen.
The film has already crossed $911.9 million worldwide, dethroning ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as the highest-grossing music biopic in history, with $358.6 million earned domestically and $553.3 million internationally, the bulk of the international total generated through Universal Pictures, which holds foreign theatrical and ancillary rights.
The film’s opening weekend set the genre record outright, pulling $97 million domestically and $217 million globally, numbers that towered above tracking estimates of $50 to $60 million. That debut ranked as the second-biggest opening of the year behind April’s ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ and more than doubled the prior biopic record held by ‘Straight Outta Compton.’
Japan, long one of Jackson’s strongest overseas markets, only opened on June 12, meaning the territory’s full contribution is still building into the global total. That remaining momentum makes the $1 billion threshold feel like a matter of when rather than if.
The film was directed by Antoine Fuqua from a screenplay by John Logan, with Jaafar Jackson, the late singer’s real nephew, making his screen acting debut in the title role. The production carried a price tag near $200 million and was co-financed between Lionsgate, Universal, and the Michael Jackson estate, making it one of the most expensive biopics ever mounted.
Beyond the box office, the film’s release has sparked a sharp, sustained surge in Jackson’s streaming catalog, with his Spotify monthly listeners climbing by five million and 14 of his songs charting simultaneously on Spotify’s global weekly chart, led by ‘Billie Jean’ at number three. ‘Thriller’ also returned to the Billboard 200’s top ten.
None of this has come without turbulence. The production required $50 million in reshoots after a clause in a settlement agreement barred the depiction of one of Jackson’s accusers, forcing a major overhaul of the third act. Critics have largely panned the resulting film, with the Rotten Tomatoes score sitting at 38 percent. Audiences, however, have proved entirely indifferent to that critical consensus.
The billion-dollar milestone, if reached as projected, will cap one of the most improbable theatrical success stories in recent memory, a film written off by critics and battered by controversy that somehow moonwalked its way to the top of the all-time biopic chart.
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