‘Michael’ Makes $217M Globally, Surpassing Biopic Box Office First Weekend Numbers

The Antoine Fuqua-directed Michael is seeing huge numbers at the box office in its opening weekend. According to Variety, the ticket sales for the dramatization of Michael Jackson’s life and career are the best all-time for a biopic, surpassing the record set by Straight Outta Compton in 2015 ($60 million), and well above 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody, which opened to $51 million en route to $910 million worldwide. Michael also had the second-biggest debut of the year–behind April’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($131 million).

“You don’t deliver this number unless you’re seeing huge numbers across every conceivable demographic,” says Adam Fogelson, chair of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group. “They’re clearly having a blast, and that bodes well for a lovely multiple.”

The film is co-produced by the Jackson estate and stars Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, as the King of Pop. As of April 27, Michael has taken in $120.4 million internationally and $97 million domestic – which surpasses Oppenheimer’s $180.4 million worldwide opening weekend in 2023 and Bohemian Rhapsody’s $124 million first weekend worldwide numbers in 2018. Its major returns come in spite of mixed-to-negative reviews, criticisms that the movie ignores the superstar’s sexual abuse allegations, and expensive reshoots that delayed the film’s opening date by a year. The audience response has been significantly more positive than the critical reception, with notables such as Chris Tucker and Questlove raving about Michael.

“Honestly? I was hesitant. I’m emotionally invested, and I was holding my breath,” Questlove wrote on Instagram. “But this project does the impossible: it strips away the spectacle and shows us the person. For the first time, we aren’t looking at the ‘THE KING’ — we’re looking at a human being.”

Michael is the biggest hit for Lionsgate since 2015’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, which boasted a $102 million debut. If ticket sales surpass $700 million worldwide, Michael will be among the studio’s biggest films of all time: alongside 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 2012’s Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and 2014’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.