The King of Pop has not finished making people talk about him. The film dedicated to Michael Jackson’s early years crossed the $932 million mark in worldwide revenue, dethroning a certain Bohemian Rhapsody and its predecessor record eight years old.
Almost twenty years after his disappearance, Michael Jackson continues to shake up the counters. The biopic dedicated to him by Antoine Fuqua, released on April 22 in cinemas, officially exceeded $932.2 million in worldwide box office revenue last weekend. A score that propels the film to the rank of biggest success in history for a musical biopic, ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody and its $911 million earned in 2018 thanks to the story of Freddie Mercury and the group Queen.
An already historic start
The triumph of Michael owes nothing to chance. From its first weekend of release, the film had the best launch in history for a biopic and for a musical film, with 97.2 million dollars collected in the United States and Canada, far ahead of the 60.2 million of Straight Outta Compton. Internationally, the film had added an additional $121.6 million upon its launch. In total, production now stands at $362.8 million in North America and $569.4 million internationally.
The film also stands out as the biggest success in the history of the Lionsgate studio, exceeding the 865 million dollars garnered by Hunger Games: Catching Fire in 2013.
Un podium disproportionné
The extent of the phenomenon can also be measured by the gap compared to the rest of the ranking. In the history of cinema, only biopics devoted to Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury have managed to cross the $900 million mark in the musical biopic category. The rest of the ranking seems almost paltry in comparison: Elvis (2022) ranks third with $288.7 million, followed by Straight Outta Compton (2015) with 202.2 million, Rocketman (2019) with 195 million, and Bob Marley : One Love (2024) with 180.8 million. No other musical biopic has so far surpassed the $300 million mark.
The billion dollars in their sights
With several territories still to exploit and excellent performance in theaters, Michael is now aiming for a new symbolic milestone: becoming the first musical biopic in history to exceed a billion dollars in global revenue. A feat that only Super Mario Galaxy managed to accomplish this year at the box office.
Faced with such success, Lionsgate has already confirmed the development of a sequel. Antoine Fuqua has revealed that enough scenes have been filmed to tell the second part of the King of Pop’s life in a new film.
A triumph also verified in France
The success of the film goes far beyond American borders. In France, Michael became the most viewed biopic in history in France on June 10, totaling 5.25 million admissions, ahead of the 5.24 million spectators attracted by La Mômele biopic d’Olivier Dahan consacré à Édith Piaf.
17 years after his death, the King of Pop continues to make crowds dance, and it’s not about to end…
Source : Premiere
