New York City Is Refusing to Let ‘Michael’ Go, and the $1 Billion Mark Is Now Within Reach

Two months into its theatrical run, ‘Michael’ is still filling seats in New York City, and a screenshot of nearly sold-out auditoriums circulating on social media is generating fresh buzz among fans tracking the biopic’s march toward a billion-dollar global total.

Posted by fan account @MJJUltimate, the image shows two cinema floor plans with almost every seat booked, a sight that is becoming increasingly rare for a film this deep into its run.

As of the most recent tracking, the worldwide gross for ‘Michael’ is approaching $960 million, making it the highest-grossing music biopic and biographical film ever released, with the film sitting at second place on the worldwide box office chart for the year. The billion-dollar milestone now sits within striking distance, and New York’s continued enthusiasm is one of several indicators suggesting it will get there.

The film recently crossed $20 million in Russia to become the first title of the year to hit that mark in the territory, has held exceptionally well in Japan since opening there in mid-June, and remains one of the top-performing releases of the year in Brazil. That kind of sustained international firepower is what tends to push blockbusters from nearly there to actually there.

The film’s journey to this point has been one of the more remarkable turnaround stories in recent box office history. Despite launching with largely negative reviews, a 38% Tomatometer score, and a turbulent production that required major reshoots after a script issue was identified involving how an accuser was depicted, ‘Michael’ opened to $97 million domestically and $217 million globally, the biggest debut ever for a biographical film.

The Lionsgate and Universal co-production has since surpassed ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s’ lifetime global gross to become the all-time highest-grossing music biopic, a record that also carries personal significance for producer Graham King, who produced both films and has now broken his own benchmark.

Producer John Branca, one of the film’s key creative forces, reflected on the scale of the response after the opening weekend, saying the global reaction on social media and at the box office represented something the industry had simply not seen before. That response has shown no meaningful signs of slowing, which is itself an extraordinary outcome for a film critics largely dismissed on arrival.

If ‘Michael’ crosses $1 billion globally, it would become only the second film to reach that threshold at the worldwide box office in the year, behind Universal’s ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie.’ For a biopic built around a fifty-year-old pop star, that would be a feat entirely without precedent, and New York City seems determined to be part of making it happen.

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