'Michael' dethrones 'Bohemian Rhapsody' as top-grossing music biopic

Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYSun, June 14, 2026 at 7:46 PM UTC

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The King of Pop is officially the king of the box office.

"Michael," the movie about Michael Jackson's life starring the singer's nephew Jaafar Jackson in the lead role, has reached a major milestone in its impressive box office run: It is officially the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time.

That record was previously held by 2018's "Bohemian Rhapsody," which starred Rami Malek as Queen singer Freddie Mercury and earned $911 million worldwide. "Michael" has now surpassed that haul with a global take of $932.2 million and counting as of June 14, according to Lionsgate. The movie took in another $4.1 million this weekend in North America and also had a strong opening of $6.7 million in Japan, where it opened on June 12.

It's a significant achievement for a movie that arrived in theaters surrounded by controversy that could have derailed its momentum. Leading up to its release, "Michael" faced criticism for sidestepping the child sexual abuse allegations against Jackson, instead focusing on an earlier part of his career and on his relationship with his father. The story of the movie ends in 1988, five years before the first abuse allegation against Jackson came to light.

'Michael' biopic defies critics: Biopic shatters box office record

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in "Michael."

There were also reports of dramatic behind-the-scenes turmoil on "Michael." According to Variety and Puck, the film was originally set to dramatize Jackson being accused of abusing 13‑year‑old Jordan Chandler in 1993. But significant reshoots were reportedly needed after it was discovered that a legal agreement had been overlooked that prevented Chandler from being depicted in a movie.

To make matters worse, reviews for "Michael" were mostly negative, with many critics slamming it as being overly sanitized, though Jaafar Jackson's performance was widely praised. But it quickly became clear that audiences simply didn't agree with the reviews.

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The movie debuted to a massive $97 million at the domestic box office in April, setting a new record for biggest opening weekend for a musical biopic of all time. The record was previously held by "Straight Outta Compton," which opened with $60 million domestically.

In subsequent weeks, the movie, bolstered by positive word of mouth, has continued to perform well. At the global box office, "Michael" is the second highest-grossing movie of 2026 so far. It's behind only "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," but above other recent blockbusters like "Project Hail Mary" and "The Devil Wears Prada 2." "Michael" has also grossed significantly more than the latest "Star Wars" film, "The Mandalorian and Grogu."

The next big question is whether "Michael" can become the first musical biopic in history to hit the $1 billion mark.

Lionsgate has confirmed it is making progress on a sequel to "Michael," which would depict more events from the singer's life. It hasn't been specified what would be covered in the second movie or how the abuse allegations would be handled.

But Lionsgate Motion Picture chair Adam Fogelson said on a call with analysts in May that "much of the biggest and most popular parts of his music catalog" were "not touched upon in the first film," so they could be included in the second, according to Deadline. "We can go forwards and backwards in telling this story," he said. "There are so many other events that happened, even in the time frame of the original movie, that weren't touched upon."

In a previous conversation with USA TODAY, Jaafar Jackson confirmed the singer's story is "not finished being told," adding, "It's in the early process of figuring that out. I can't wait to see what comes next."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Michael' box office tops 'Bohemian Rhapsody' among music biopics

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