‘Michael’ Is About to Do Something No Biopic Has Ever Done, and Hollywood Is Watching Closely

Music biopics have had their fair share of box office hits over the years, but few genres in Hollywood carry as much financial risk as a film built entirely around one artist’s life story. Studios have learned time and again that turning a musician’s biography into a blockbuster requires the kind of crossover appeal that most films in this genre simply never achieve.

That is what makes the ongoing theatrical run of the Michael Jackson biopic so remarkable. Since its release back in April, the film has quietly rewritten the record books for the genre, and its box office trajectory shows no signs of slowing down even months into its run.

The film, simply titled ‘Michael,’ has now crossed roughly 993.5 million dollars at the global box office, putting it just a few million dollars away from becoming the first biopic in history to cross the one billion dollar threshold. It has already surpassed ‘Oppenheimer’ to become the highest-grossing biographical film ever made, a milestone that once seemed nearly untouchable for a genre built around real people rather than fantastical spectacle.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by John Logan, ‘Michael’ traces the singer’s rise from his earliest days performing alongside his brothers in the Jackson 5 through the peak of his solo career, culminating in some of the most iconic performances of his life. Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s real-life nephew, stars in the title role in what marks his acting debut, alongside Juliano Valdi as the younger version of the singer.

The film’s numbers break down into a domestic total of roughly 371.6 million dollars and an international haul of about 620.1 million dollars, with the United Kingdom leading all overseas markets at 71.4 million dollars. That international strength has been a defining feature of the film’s run, with strong showings in markets like Japan, where a June release through Kino Films gave the film an added boost toward the billion-dollar mark.

‘Michael’ has already claimed several box office records along the way, dethroning ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to become the highest-grossing music biopic ever made before later overtaking ‘Oppenheimer’ for the title of highest-grossing biographical film of all time. It also stands as Lionsgate’s biggest release in studio history, surpassing ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ to claim that distinction.

The road to this success was not entirely smooth. Lionsgate was forced into roughly fifty million dollars in reshoots after the Jackson estate raised concerns over how the screenplay handled material related to one of Jackson’s accusers, a change that pushed the film’s release back by nearly a year and helped push its final budget somewhere between 155 million and 200 million dollars.

That approach has also shaped the film’s critical reception. On Rotten Tomatoes, critics have been notably split, with only 38 percent of reviews rated positive, while general audiences responded far more warmly, awarding the film an A minus CinemaScore. Critics have pointed out that the film largely sidesteps the more controversial chapters of Jackson’s life, a choice that appears to have paid off commercially even as it drew mixed reviews from reviewers.

The supporting cast includes Colman Domingo and Nia Long as Jackson’s parents, Joe and Katherine, along with Miles Teller and Laura Harrier, rounding out the ensemble. With word of mouth continuing to drive ticket sales seventeen years after Jackson’s death, the film has proven that audience appetite for his story remains as strong as ever.

Lionsgate has already confirmed that a sequel is in development, and the film’s ending, which closes on the words The Story Continues, all but guarantees more of Jackson’s story is still to come on the big screen. As ‘Michael’ inches closer to the billion-dollar mark, it stands to permanently reshape what studios believe is possible for the music biopic genre going forward.

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