A new box office king has been born.
The biopic of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, hit theaters as an instant sensation, grossing $97 million domestically and $217 million worldwide in its first weekend of release. These ticket sales were the best start ever for a biopic, breaking the record set by 2015’s Straight Outta Compton ($60 million). And its box office gross exceeded that of 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody, which opened with $51 million but shattered expectations with $910 million worldwide by the end of its run. “Michael” also recorded the second highest box office revenue this year, following the sequel “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($131 million), which was released in April.
“Michael” is rocking the box office despite mostly terrible reviews (only 38% of reviews were positive on Rotten Tomatoes). However, audiences strongly disagreed with the majority of critics and accepted “Michael” with an “A-” rating in CinemaScore’s exit poll.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, “Michael” follows Michael from his early days with the Jackson 5 to his rise to become one of the greatest entertainers on the planet. Jaafar Jackson, the singer’s real-life nephew, plays Michael Jackson in his acting debut, while Colman Domingo and Nia Long play his parents, Joe and Catherine. Critics have complained that “Michael” sanitizes Jackson’s life. That’s because the film does not include the child sexual abuse allegations that Jackson was accused of later in his career.
It wasn’t always planned for “Michael.” Initially, the script was to dramatize the 1993 child sexual abuse lawsuit against Jackson. However, these scenes had to be removed after producers discovered that the terms of the settlement with the young accuser had clauses that prohibited them from being depicted or mentioned in film or television. After an extensive third-act overhaul, the film concludes during the Bad Tour in 1988. Lionsgate plans to make (at least) one more movie about Jackson’s life.
“Michael” comes with a price tag of nearly $200 million, making it one of the most expensive biopics of all time. These costs were split 50-50 by Lionsgate, Universal (which distributes the film internationally), and the Michael Jackson Foundation. Despite the headaches behind the scenes, the film has already proven to be worth the hefty price tag.
“Michael” is Lionsgate’s biggest hit in more than a decade since 2015’s “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2,” which debuted at $102 million. If worldwide ticket sales exceed $700 million as expected, “Michael” will join the studio’s biggest-ever films, joining 2013’s “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” ($865 million worldwide), 2012’s “Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” ($848 million) and 2014’s “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay.” ‘Part’ will be in the top three. 1” ($759 million). In 2024, Lionsgate’s box office revenue is on the rise after a series of flops, including Borderlands, the Crow reboot, and the Wonder prequel White Bird. Recent successes include “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t,” “The Housemaid” and “The Long Walk.”
As the weekend’s only major release, “Michael” towered over the North American charts. The reigning champion “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” fell to second place after holding the number one spot for three consecutive weekends. Universal’s animated sequel about the beloved Nintendo character added $21.2 million in 3,732 theaters, grossing $384 million domestically and more than $800 million worldwide.
“Project Hail Mary” came in third with $13.2 million from 3,510 locations, an impressive number for a film in its sixth week of release. The space epic starring Ryan Gosling has so far grossed a whopping $305 million in North America and around $600 million worldwide.
Even more in the future…
