Michael becomes – After two months in theaters, Lionsgate/Universal’s “Michael” has become the highest-grossing biopic of all time, taking in $977.4 million worldwide and overtaking Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which previously held the record with $965 million.
When “Michael” hit theaters, it was already built for big audiences. Two months later, it’s proving the scale doesn’t fade—just keeps growing.
Lionsgate/Universal’s film now stands as the highest-grossing biopic of all time, posting a $977.4 million box office and passing the $965 million record set three years ago by Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture Oscar winner “Oppenheimer.”
The momentum didn’t arrive quietly. “Michael” earned a biopic record $217 million global opening weekend in late April. with Lionsgate handling domestic distribution and Universal releasing the film overseas. In the weeks that followed. it stayed a hot ticket. competing for repeat-viewing crowds alongside “The Devil Wears Prada 2” as fans of the late pop star came back to see his story again.
In the United States. the film kept moving long after the opening rush. continuing to post daily grosses of more than $1 million until June 14. its 52nd day of theatrical play. It now sits with a $370 million domestic total. ranking third on Lionsgate’s all-time domestic charts behind only “The Hunger Games” ($408 million in 2012) and “Catching Fire” ($424 million in 2013).
Globally, the endurance has been even more striking. “Michael” has grossed nearly $600 million overseas. including $70 million in the United Kingdom. $55 million-plus in France. and more than $30 million each in Mexico. Brazil and Australia. The film also had a June release in Japan courtesy of Kino Films, where it is approaching $20 million.
That kind of reach lands differently in an era when music biopics are often treated like sure bets. Recent successes—“Elvis,” the N.W.A. biopic “Straight Outta Compton,” and the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown”—have kept the model profitable. Before this year. though. the only music biopic to reach the box office stratosphere was “Bohemian Rhapsody. ” starring Rami Malek as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. which made $911 million worldwide.
Now, “Michael” is closing in on the next ceiling. The film is on the cusp of becoming the first biopic ever to gross $1 billion worldwide. Even if it runs out of gas in this theatrical run just short of that mark, a re-release ahead of its planned sequel is expected to push it over the line.
The numbers and the timing are adding up to the same takeaway: after 17 years since his death, the global fanbase for the most famous pop star ever is still turning out in force—and “Michael” is collecting the evidence one market at a time.
Michael Jaafar Jackson Oppenheimer biopic box office Lionsgate Universal Antoine Fuqua King of Pop music biopics Bohemian Rhapsody Straight Outta Compton Elvis A Complete Unknown $977.4 million
Wow so it beat Oppenheimer already? Hollywood is wild.
I didn’t even realize it was still in theaters like that. $1 million a day til June 14?? That’s kinda insane. Also “The Devil Wears Prada 2” competing?? feels like the studios just throw everything at the wall.
Wait, so they’re saying it’s the biggest biopic of all time but it’s also like… a music thing? Biopics are biopics I guess. I saw somewhere that it only made that much because of overseas numbers, but then the article mentions UK/France etc. Either way, people are gonna watch anything about MJ, even if it’s not accurate.
Not shocked at all. Michael movies always do good and they keep re-releasing stuff to reach the $1 billion mark. It’s like they already have the sequel plan so of course it’s gonna get pushed over the top. Also why is there a Japan release “courtesy of Kino Films” like it’s some random detail lol. Numbers are just fake marketing to me sometimes, but yeah I guess $977 million is real.