The Michael Jackson biopic Michael is heading into its third weekend at the global box office on track to cross $500 million worldwide, after smashing the record for the biggest opening ever for a music film and going on to dethrone Elvis as the second highest-grossing musical biopic in history. The Lionsgate film, starring Jaafar Jackson as his uncle, opened on 24 April 2026 to $97 million domestically and $217 million worldwide in a single weekend.
Let that sink in for a second. No music biopic had ever come close. The previous record belonged to Straight Outta Compton, which opened to $60 million back in 2015. Michael didn’t just beat it; it nearly doubled it.
The Michael Jackson biopic box office run so far
The film did not slow down in its second weekend either. It pulled in $54.5 million domestically, a drop of only 43.9% from opening weekend, which is an extraordinarily strong hold for a film of this size.
By the end of the first week of May, the global total had surpassed $300 million worldwide, officially pushing it past Elvis ($288.6 million lifetime) to become the second highest-grossing musical biopic of all time, behind only Bohemian Rhapsody, which earned $911 million globally.
Analysts tracking this weekend’s numbers expect the film to cross $500 million worldwide before Sunday night is over, as reported by Deadline.
Whether it can catch Bohemian Rhapsody is the question no one saw coming when this project was first announced.
Jaafar Jackson and the critics
The reception has been split, which is not entirely surprising given the subject matter.
Critics have been measured; the film holds a 58% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviews generally acknowledging the scale of the production while taking issue with what many describe as a sanitised portrayal of Michael Jackson’s life and legacy.
The audience score, however, sits at 76%, and that gap between critics and viewers has been the story of the entire run.
The one thing almost everyone agrees on is Jaafar Jackson. Reviewers across the board have singled out his performance, praising him for capturing the physical presence, the voice and the mannerisms of his uncle without tipping into imitation.
For a debut performance of this magnitude, that is no small achievement.
The film will likely dominate for at least another two weekends, with no major competition entering the frame until late May.
Whether it reaches the billion-dollar territory that some early projections flirted with depends largely on how it performs in markets like China and South Korea over the coming weeks.
