The ‘Michael’ Box Office Streak Is Over—But It Just Broke a Historic Biopic Record

The King of Pop has always played by his own rules, and his biopic is doing the same. ‘Michael’, the Antoine Fuqua-directed life story of Michael Jackson, has now ended its remarkable streak of grossing over one million dollars daily at the domestic box office, but the numbers it leaves behind tell a story that is extraordinary on its own terms.

Tracking data confirms that ‘Michael’ maintained a daily gross above the one million dollar threshold for 48 consecutive days domestically, matching the exact record previously held by ‘The Passion of the Christ’ within the biopic category, a benchmark that had stood for over two decades. The film’s total domestic earnings have reached approximately $358.6 million, placing it among the top 75 highest-grossing domestic releases of all time.

With that domestic cumulative, ‘Michael’ has already overtaken ‘American Sniper’ to become the all-time second-highest-grossing biopic in North American history. The only film standing between it and the all-time domestic biopic crown is ‘The Passion of the Christ’, which collected $370.3 million domestically over its entire run, a total that projections now suggest ‘Michael’ could match or exceed, with forecasts pointing to a final domestic haul somewhere between $370 million and $380 million.

The milestone pursuit does not stop there. ‘Michael’ has also crossed $911.9 million worldwide, surpassing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to become the highest-grossing music biopic of all time globally. It has also become the highest-grossing release in Lionsgate’s history, surpassing ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’, and marks the biggest box office success in director Antoine Fuqua’s career.

Despite critics largely dismissing the film, with a 38% score on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences have told a completely different story, giving it a 97% Verified Hot score on the same platform alongside a CinemaScore of A minus. That disconnect between critical reception and public enthusiasm has defined the film’s entire theatrical journey and speaks to the enduring global pull of Michael Jackson as a cultural figure.

One potential complication for its final domestic total is the digital rollout. Lionsgate announced that the biopic would arrive on premium video-on-demand platforms on June 9, giving audiences a chance to watch it from home less than seven weeks after its theatrical debut. Whether that accelerated digital window cannibalized the remaining theatrical run or simply extended the film’s reach to new audiences remains the central question as it chases the final record standing in its way.

The film stars Jaafar Jackson, Michael Jackson’s real-life nephew, in the title role, and opened on April 24 with a $97 million domestic debut, shattering the previous all-time record for a music biopic opening weekend. What followed that launch has been one of the most sustained commercial performances in recent box office history, and the crown for greatest-grossing biopic of all time now appears to be a matter of when, not if.

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