Entertainment News

'Michael' opens to $97M, the biggest music biopic debut ever, as critics and fans split

Michael, Antoine Fuqua's biopic of Michael Jackson, opened to $97 million in North America and $217 million worldwide, according to studio estimates cited by theGrio. Jaafar Jackson, the singer's nephew, plays the lead, with Colman Domingo and Nia Long as Joe and Katherine Jackson. Lionsgate produced the film and Universal distributes it internationally.

TheGrio says the debut is the biggest ever for a music biopic, beating Straight Outta Compton and Bohemian Rhapsody, and second only to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie among 2026 openings. It puts the budget at around $200 million and notes that reviews were mixed. It also reports that the film leaves out later controversies in Jackson's life, with earlier script material reportedly removed because of legal constraints.

Ada Derana added the detail: $38.5 million on opening day, $12.6 million from previews, and a result well above pre-release tracking of $65 million to $70 million. Nearly 40% of the domestic gross came from IMAX and other premium screens, the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes was 96%, and the film is the first of a planned two parts.

Variety India gave the global figure as $217,365,000, enough to make it the sixth-highest grosser of 2026, and reported ₹15.4 crore in India, the biggest opening there for a musical biopic.

How each outlet framed it

• theGrio — the record, the cast and what the film chose not to show.
• Ada Derana — tracking versus results, premium screens and audience scores.
• Variety India — the 2026 rankings and the film's Indian box office.

Where the numbers differ: Ada Derana says it beat Oppenheimer's $80 million opening to become the biggest domestic biopic debut; Variety India puts Oppenheimer at $82 million. Ada Derana gives Straight Outta Compton's opening as $60.1 million; theGrio rounds it to $60 million.