'Michael' Becomes First Musical Biopic to Surpass $1 Billion at the Box Office

Becomes the Highest-Grossing Film in Lionsgate’s History

The film "Michael," depicting the life of Michael Jackson, has become the first $1 billion box office hit in Lionsgate's history.

Still cut from the movie 'Michael'.

According to North American media outlets such as Variety on July 12 (local time), Lionsgate's previous highest-grossing films were "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" (2013, $865 million) and "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2" (2012, $850 million). "Michael" has far surpassed these records, rewriting the studio's history. The film was produced and distributed by Lionsgate in North America, while Universal handled distribution overseas.

Signs of box-office success were clear from its release in April. During its opening weekend, the film grossed $97 million in North America and $217 million globally, easily surpassing the previous opening record for a musical biopic set by "Straight Outta Compton" in 2015 ($60 million). Despite controversy over reshoots and harsh criticism from reviewers, audience enthusiasm remained strong. With repeat viewings contributing to its run, "Michael" consistently ranked among the top box office performers throughout the summer peak season.

As a result, the film’s cumulative box office has reached $629.8 million overseas and $371.8 million in North America, totaling $1.001 billion. It has overtaken "Bohemian Rhapsody" (2018, $911 million) to become the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time, and it has also surpassed "Oppenheimer" (2023, $975 million) to rank as the top-grossing film based on a real person.

Movie still from 'Michael'.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film traces Jackson’s journey from his Jackson 5 days to his rise as the King of Pop. Jackson’s real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, stars in the lead role, while Colman Domingo and Nia Long play his parents, Joe and Katherine. Lionsgate is reportedly planning to produce at least one more sequel focusing on Jackson’s life.

This year, "Michael" is the second film to surpass the $1 billion mark, following Universal's animated "Super Mario Galaxy Movie" ($1.008 billion). Disney’s "Toy Story 5" ($879.1 million) is also expected to join the billion-dollar club soon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.