Photo Credit: Jaafar Jackson in Michael by Glen Wilson for Lionsgate
“Michael” comes in strong with initial international box office numbers, generating $18.5 million on its opening day across numerous countries.
Lionsgate’s Michael, a musical biopic chronicling the rise of the King of Pop, debuts on Friday, and things are looking good. Over the weekend, the Michael Jackson film is showing signs of robust box office numbers. Projections indicate $65 million to $75 million or more domestically, and $75 million to $80 million overseas.
The film has done best in France so far, with $2.6 million rolling in on Wednesday. After that, the UK and Ireland came in hot with $2.6 million, Italy with $1.3 million, and Mexico and Spain with $1.1 million apiece. Universal, which is distributing the film in international markets, estimates this to be ahead of 2018’s Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and even the 2023 drama Oppenheimer—two of the highest-grossing biopics of the last decade.
Critics have said that Michael doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know, and it’s essentially a “standard-issue musician biopic” affair. But they also note that it fails to address the elephant in the room: the child sexual abuse allegations brought against the artist later in his career.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film covers Michael Jackson’s early days in the Jackson 5 to becoming one of the biggest entertainers in the world. He is played by his real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson—so there are many obvious reasons why this film doesn’t touch on any of the legal controversies that plagued the singer’s later life.
However, an initial screenplay reportedly did recount a 1993 lawsuit against Jackson, but this was removed after producers discovered a clause in the settlement with the accuser that barred depictions or mentions of him in film or television. Instead, the film ends during Jackson’s Bad tour in 1988.
The film is one of the most expensive biopics of all time, costing at least $170 million to produce.
