By Published May 15, 2026, 9:33 AM EDT
Ryan Northrup is a Senior Staff Writer on ScreenRant's Movie & TV News team, where he has authored nearly 5,000 articles, including features and reviews. A graduate of McMaster University, Ryan began his career in public relations before attending Vancouver Film School. There, he built lasting industry connections and optioned a feature film screenplay.
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continues to soar at the box office.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the music biopic charts the meteoric rise of pop star Michael Jackson, with Jaafar Jackson taking on the titular role. Michael has been a big hit at the box office since its release on April 24, bringing in an opening weekend of $97.2 million domestically and over $217 million worldwide.
Per , Michael passed $600 million worldwide at the box office this past Tuesday, with a global total now standing at over $604 million. This total comprises $353.8 million internationally and $250 million from North America. The film is projected to gross more than $20 million in its upcoming third weekend in theaters.
Michael's new worldwide total brings it a little closer to the all-time record currently held by Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) at $910.8 million. The previous second-place music biopic was ) at $288.6 million, which Michael beat last week.
Though have been mostly negative from critics due to its more surface-level exploration of the music icon, the film is succeeding in a big way with general audiences. On , for example, the movie has only a 39% critics' score, but the audience-driven Popcornmeter is glowing at 97%.
It's this enthusiastic response from audiences that is driving Michael's success and contributing to strong holds from weekend to weekend. This coming weekend, the movie is expected to regain some IMAX and PLF screens, which will further bolster its box office numbers.
It's unclear, however, whether the Michael Jackson biopic will be able to surpass Bohemian Rhapsody. Michael is already beating the Queen biopic domestically, with the latter film having grossed $216 million in North America. Bohemian Rhapsody was a major performer internationally, though, with an impressive overseas total of $687 million.
Whether Michael ends up becoming the new record-holder or not, the film's performance has already led to development on a potential sequel at Lionsgate. The leaves the door open for a follow-up to explore the latter portion of the pop star's life, and the success of the first movie certainly suggests audiences would show up for a continuation of this story.
Jackson died in 2009 and leaves behind a complicated legacy marred by sexual abuse allegations, but Michael’s success speaks to the enduring connection many people still have with the pop star’s music. It remains to be seen how high the biopic will climb at the box office and whether a sequel will get made, but the movie is clearly proving that interest in the King of Pop remains high.
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