Michael Jackson’s biopic, Michael, has dethroned Bohemian Rhapsody to become the highest-grossing music biopic of all time, crossing $911.9 million worldwide as the Jaafar Jackson-starring film continues its global rollout.
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Directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by John Logan, the Lionsgate and Universal co-production has surpassed Bohemian Rhapsody‘s total gross with $358.6 million at the domestic box office and $553.3 million internationally — with Universal generating $540.5 million of the international total after acquiring foreign theatrical and ancillary rights. The film arrives in Japan today, a territory that could push Michael past $1 billion worldwide, which would make it only the second film to cross that threshold at the 2026 global box office after Universal’s Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
By comparison, the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody — which won four Oscars including Best Film Editing and earned Rami Malek a Best Actor win — grossed $216.6 million domestically and $694.3 million internationally for a $910.9 million global total. Both films were produced by Graham King, meaning King has now broken his own all-time box office record for music biopics.
The film has set a string of records in addition to its overall gross — among them the largest global opening weekend ever for a music biopic, the highest-grossing domestic biopic of all time, and the most successful biopic ever in France, surpassing La Vie en Rose. Forty international markets surpassed Bohemian Rhapsody‘s lifetime gross, including Brazil, France and Mexico. It is also Lionsgate’s highest-grossing theatrical release ever worldwide.
The road to release was not without turbulence. Lionsgate was forced to undertake $50 million in reshoots after the Jackson estate identified a key issue with a plot point in the screenplay concerning one of Jackson’s accusers, who was not meant to be dramatised in the film. The film stars Jaafar Jackson — Michael Jackson’s nephew — in the title role.
Michael Jackson remains one of the most commercially successful recording artists in history. He has sold an estimated 350 million records worldwide, scored 13 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist — including “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Black or White” — and holds the record for the best-selling album of all time with Thriller, which has sold more than 70 million copies worldwide.
Thriller spent 37 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice — once as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1997 and once as a solo artist in 2001.
