Michael has officially become the highest grossing music biopic of all time, surpassing Bohemian Rhapsody.
The film depicts the life of Michael Jackson, from his early involvement with the Jackson 5 in the 1960s up until the Bad World Tour in the late 1980s, and it sees the King of Pop’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson taking on the title role.
It opened in April to the largest every first weekend for a music biopic, and now, Deadline have confirmed that it has become the most lucrative music biopic ever made, clocking $911.9million (£680million) at the worldwide box office. Its recent release in Japan gives it a strong chance of passing the $1billion barrier, which only The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has done so far in 2026.
Bohemian Rhapsody, the 2018 film that told the story of Freddie Mercury and Queen, earned a total of $910.9million (£679million). It was also produced by Graham King, the British mogul that is also one of the key producers on Michael.
Lionsgate, who distributed the film in the US, have confirmed that the sequel to Michael is moving forward, with chairman Adam Fogelson saying last month that the second entry may not follow chronologically from the end of the first film.
The final scene of Michael sees Jackson performing at Wembley Stadium in 1988, before a caption that reads: “His Story Continues”.
Any second film might be expected to tackle the child sex abuse allegations that were made against Jackson, something the original script for Michael originally did in its third act, before a clause in a legal settlement was found that forbid the Jackson estate from mentioning Jordan Chandler, one of the accusers. As a result, the film was forced into $50million of reshoots to change the ending of Michael.
In a three-star review of Michael, NME wrote: “So, Michael feels like a job well done: it’s a slick, accessible advert for Jackson’s incredible imperial phase. But if the singer’s estate wanna be startin’ somethin’ bigger like a film franchise, they’ll have their work cut out.”
James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who made their own allegations of child sexual abuse by Jackson in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland, have been given a new trial date for 2028.