‘Michael’ Beats ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to Become Highest-Grossing Music Biopic, Approaches $1B
Written by Stephen B. Webster
Courtesy of Lionsgate.
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has been knocked off its throne as Universal’s ‘Michael’ Jackson biopic glides past it to become the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time.
Starring Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop Michael Jackson, and directed by Antoine Fuqua, ‘Michael’ has now reached a staggering $912 million worldwide.
The film recently opened in Japan, where Lionsgate is partnering with Kino on the release. That market could be the final push that sends ‘Michael’ past the $1 billion mark, making it only the second movie of 2026 to cross that line after Universal’s ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie.’
After producing the four-time Oscar-winning ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ Graham King has now broken his own all-time box office record with ‘Michael.’
Lionsgate has also released the film theatrically in Russia, where it has already collected $10 million.
At the domestic box office, ‘Michael’ has earned $358.6 million. Overseas, it has brought in $553.3 million, with Universal generating $540.5 million of that total after taking foreign theatrical and ancillary rights.
For comparison, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ ended its run with $216.6 million domestically and $694.3 million internationally.
Along the way, ‘Michael’ has shattered a long list of box office records. It is now Lionsgate’s highest-grossing theatrical release ever worldwide, the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time, and the film with the largest global opening weekend ever for a musical biopic. It also scored the biggest musical biopic opening in 65 international markets and surpassed the lifetime gross of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in 40 international markets, including Brazil, France and Mexico. In Brazil, it became Universal’s highest-grossing film ever, while in France it became the most successful biopic of all time, overtaking the local hit La Môme, also known as La Vie En Rose. Domestically, ‘Michael’ now holds the records for highest-grossing music biopic, highest-grossing biopic, and largest opening weekend for a musical biopic.
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