The Michael Jackson biopic Michael shattered box office records in its opening weekend, pulling in $97 million domestically and $217 million worldwide — the biggest debut in history for a biographical film — and cementing what may be the most commercially successful critic-proof release in years.
The film surpassed the previous record held by Straight Outta Compton ($60 million) and left Bohemian Rhapsody’s $51 million opening far behind, ranking as the year’s second-biggest domestic debut after The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($131 million). On opening day alone, Michael generated $39.5 million domestically — a new all-time record for a biographical film, besting Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
The audience enthusiasm landed squarely against critical opinion. Only 38% of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were positive, yet audiences awarded the film an “A-” on CinemaScore exit polls. The gap underscores the film’s central controversy: critics praised Jaafar Jackson’s performance but attacked the story as sanitized, with the Rotten Tomatoes consensus stating that the film “mostly plays like a ‘greatest hits’ album that could’ve benefitted from including liner notes.”
The film originally dramatized the 1993 child molestation lawsuit against Jackson, but producers discovered a settlement clause that barred depiction or mention of the young accuser in film or television. The entire third act was overhauled, and the movie now concludes during the Bad tour in 1988. Lionsgate has signaled it expects to greenlight at least one more Jackson film to cover the later years.
Director Antoine Fuqua cast Jackson’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson in his acting debut. The ensemble also includes Colman Domingo as Joe Jackson, Nia Long as Katherine, Miles Teller as manager John Branca, Kendrick Sampson as Quincy Jones, and Mike Myers as CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff. Imax screens accounted for $13.8 million domestically and $24.5 million globally — the format’s biggest opening ever for a musical biopic.
The film carries a price tag approaching $200 million, split between Lionsgate, Universal, and the Michael Jackson estate. It ranks as Lionsgate’s biggest opening in over a decade. Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Adam Fogelson issued a statement crediting the result to audience demand: “If you give audiences what they want, they will come.”
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Social media analytics measured 417.9 million followers across platforms — 2.2 times above music biopic genre norms — with audience sentiment running overwhelmingly positive and fans describing the trailers as “a time machine.”
