Michael Jackson’s Biopic Refuses To Leave the Top Spot Overseas and the Numbers Are Getting Absurd
Hollywood has spent the summer watching one film consistently break the rules of how theatrical releases are supposed to behave. Most blockbusters follow the same predictable arc: a massive opening weekend followed by a steady fade as audiences move on to the next big thing, but one biopic has spent months completely ignoring that script.
‘Michael‘, Antoine Fuqua’s take on the life of Michael Jackson starring the singer’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role, first opened back in April and has spent every week since rewriting expectations for what a music biopic can accomplish theatrically. The film has already dethroned ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as the highest-grossing music biopic ever made and gone on to surpass Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ to claim the title of highest-grossing biographical film of any kind.
Nowhere has that staying power been more visible than in Russia, where ‘Michael’ has continued holding the number one spot at the local box office well into its extended theatrical run. Recent tracking data shows the film pulling in strong numbers even at the 33-day mark of its Russian release, pushing its regional cumulative gross past 22 million dollars from roughly three million admissions, with the broader CIS total, including neighboring countries, climbing to nearly 27 million dollars.
That kind of longevity is almost unheard of for a release this deep into its run. Most wide releases see steep drop offs by this point, yet ‘Michael’ has continued posting week over week declines in the twenty to thirty percent range rather than the much steeper falls typically expected after a fifth or sixth weekend in theaters. The film’s Russian performance has been strong enough to place it at number 32 on the region’s all time box office chart, a remarkable achievement given the amount of critical skepticism the project faced heading into release.
Russia is far from an isolated case either. The film has shown similarly unusual staying power across Japan, Brazil, Australia, South Korea, and the Middle East, with international markets now accounting for well over half of its total worldwide haul. That international dominance has helped push ‘Michael’ past the billion dollar mark globally, making it just the second release to hit that milestone in 2026 behind Universal’s ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’.
The path to this level of success was not exactly smooth. Lionsgate reportedly had to conduct fifty million dollars in reshoots after the Jackson estate identified concerns with how the original screenplay handled a plot point involving one of Jackson’s accusers, ballooning the project’s overall budget and raising the stakes for the film to perform at an exceptionally high level internationally. It has clearly cleared that bar many times over.
Jackson estate co-executor John Branca has been vocal about the scale of the film’s reception, describing the global reaction after the opening weekend as something the industry had never quite seen before. That momentum has already led to confirmation of a sequel exploring later chapters of Jackson’s career, with Fuqua reportedly having shot enough footage during production to support a follow-up covering additional eras of the singer’s life, potentially including the Dangerous period and his Super Bowl halftime performance.
None of this success has come without controversy, since the film has drawn criticism for largely sidestepping direct engagement with the child sexual abuse allegations against Jackson, and even the singer’s own daughter, Paris Jackson, has publicly stated that her script notes were disregarded during production. Audiences around the world have shown little hesitation about turning out repeatedly for the film, regardless a disconnect between critical and cultural reception that has become one of the more talked about storylines of the entire summer movie season.
Are you surprised that 'Michael' is still dominating the box office months after release?
With Russia still refusing to let go of its grip on the number one spot and the film’s worldwide total continuing to climb well past the billion-dollar threshold, ‘Michael’ shows no signs of slowing its unusual theatrical run anytime soon. Whatever mix of nostalgia and cultural fascination is fueling these numbers, it has turned into one of the most unlikely box office stories of the year.
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!
