‘Michael’ Electrifies the Box Office: 5 Reasons Bad Reviews Couldn’t Derail the Michael Jackson Biopic

Home Film Box Office Apr 27, 2026 8:19am PT ‘Michael’ Electrifies the Box Office: 5 Reasons Bad Reviews Couldn’t Derail the Michael Jackson Biopic By Rebecca Rubin Plus Icon Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter rebeccaarubin Latest Box Office: ‘Michael’ Bows to $217 Million Globally, ‘Mario’ Surpasses $800 Million, ‘Project Hail Mary’ Rockets Past $600 Million 22 hours ago ‘Michael’ Rocks Box Office With Record-Setting $97 Million Debut 1 day ago Box Office: ‘Michael’ Moonwalks to $12.6 Million in Previews, Beating ‘Project Hail Mary’ for Biggest of the Year 3 days ago See All ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection Now that’s a box office thriller. “Michael,” an origin story about Michael Jackson, electrified the box office with $97 million domestically and $217 million globally in its first weekend of release. The PG-13 film wildly exceeded expectations to secure the biggest opening of all time for any musical biopic, easily supplanting the record set long ago by 2015’s “Straight Outta Compton” ($60 million debut). It’s a blockbuster result for Lionsgate, ranking as the company’s biggest hit since 2015’s “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” ($102 million debut). The studio is expected to greenlight at least one more film about Jackson’s life. Related Stories Molly Shannon Says Will Ferrell Predicted That Actors 'Are Eventually Going to Be Replaced by Robots' During Early ‘SNL’ Days: We 'Die Laughing About it Now'