In another win for a film outside of the franchise, director Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic had a run for the ages at the worldwide box office with a record $97 million domestic opening and a $120.4 million overseas launch to a $217.4 million global debut, according to estimates Sunday.
Michaelwhich grossed nearly $30 million ahead of expectations in North America, and boasts the biggest domestic opening ever for a biopic following his passing. Oppenheimer ($80 million) not adjusted for inflation. Internationally, it ranks as the opening slot for a musical biopic after stealing the show from it Straight from Compton ($60.1 million) and the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsodyy ($55 million), not adjusted for inflation.
Other Milestones: This marks the best debut for an independent studio since the pandemic and the sixth-biggest debut ever. She danced after the opening of 2026 Sleeper project He praises Mary to celebrate the second-largest opening of the year in North America after Universal and Illumination’s Super Mario Galaxy movie.
Don’t feel too sorry about it Hail Marchy; Star/producer Ryan Gosling and Amazon MGM are celebrating the sci-fi epic crossing the $300 million mark domestically and $600 million worldwide in its sixth outing after enjoying historic decades. Over the weekend, it fell 36 percent, the best result of any film in the top 10, to $13 million versus $305 million. Overseas, it earned $12.2 million for a cume of $305 million and $613.3 million overseas.
Neither Super Mario Galaxy moviewhich finished second in North America with $21.2 million in its fourth weekend, grumbled. The sequel, which has grossed another $36.7 million overseas, is still on track to become the first release of the year to join the billion-dollar club after finishing Sunday with a global total of $871 million.
approved by Jackson’s estate, Michael It faced a major delay when producer Graham King and Lionsgate made the decision to spend tens of millions on recasting the third act to avoid mentioning the child sex abuse allegations that plunged the King of Pop into scandal before his death in 2009. All in all, the final budget of $200 million seems worth it. Universal is handling the film overseas on behalf of Lionsgate, excluding Japan.
The massive world of talk more than makes up for the generally poor reviews (Rotten Tomatoes critic rating is 40 percent).
By Saturday, it was clear that the film wasn’t just a date show for hardcore fans, and that strong word-of-mouth was more than creating one of the biggest divides in recent memory between critics and audiences: The film has a 97 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes — the best ever for the genre; PostTrak exit scores are in the low 90s and a specific recommendation of 85 percent, levels rarely seen. And while it didn’t get a perfect score on CinemaScore, it got a good enough A-.
MichaelOur success is the result of playing across all races and age groups. While it topped the mark among black moviegoers (38 percent), Latinos accounted for a significant 26 percent of the audience, followed by white moviegoers at 26 percent, according to PostTrak.
Overseas – where Jackson is a bigger draw – Michael It also got off to a record start with $120.4 million. It has been opened in almost every corner of the world. The only exception is Japan, where Jackson’s fan base is huge. (Michael Jackson’s posthumous 2011 concert document This is it He earned $196 million at the State Department; Japan’s contribution amounted to $57 million.
More to come.
