‘Michael’ Is Outpacing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Every Measure, and It Is Not Even Close
The numbers coming out of Japan are giving fans of the Michael Jackson biopic ‘Michael’ every reason to celebrate.
A widely circulated breakdown comparing the film’s Japanese performance against ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ at the same stage shows the King of Pop’s story running nearly 70% ahead of the Freddie Mercury biopic in the same market, and the gap keeps widening.
At roughly the two-week mark in Japan, ‘Michael’ had earned $20 million compared to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s’ $12 million at the same point, putting it approximately 67% ahead.
The comparison gets even more striking when extended slightly 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.
Japan is historically one of the most significant markets for Michael Jackson’s legacy. 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, making the territory a crucial bellwether for how deep the fanbase runs internationally. The early Japanese numbers suggest that audience is showing up in force all over again.
‘Michael’ was released in Japan through a partnership between Lionsgate and Kino Films, and has become just the second title to cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office in the year behind Universal’s ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie.’ The worldwide haul stands at roughly $960 million, made up of $358.6 million domestically and over $553 million from international markets, with Universal handling the overseas theatrical distribution in the majority of territories.
Across international markets, ‘Michael’ has delivered the biggest opening ever for a music biopic in 65 territories and ultimately outperformed the lifetime earnings of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in 40 countries, including Brazil, France, and Mexico. In France, it became the country’s most successful biopic ever, surpassing the acclaimed Edith Piaf film ‘La Vie en Rose.’
The record-breaking run also marks a remarkable career milestone for producer Graham King, who produced ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and has now surpassed his own previous genre-record with ‘Michael.’ Lionsgate film chair Adam Fogelson has confirmed that a sequel covering Jackson’s later life is advancing, noting that there is an enormous amount of material from his music catalog and personal story that the first film never had the opportunity to explore.
With Japan proving as dominant a market as the film’s producers hoped, and a sequel already in development, the story of ‘Michael’ at the box office is far from finished.
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