Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic, has passed USD $500 million at the worldwide box office in just three weekends of release.
The film – which chronicles the late superstar’s career from his childhood in The Jackson 5 through the Bad tour in 1988 – has now grossed an estimated $577 million globally, comprising $240.4 million domestically and $336.9 million from international markets, according to Deadline.
That makes it only the second music biopic ever to cross the $500 million threshold, after 2018‘s Bohemian Rhapsody.
In North America, it has already overtaken Bohemian Rhapsody to become the highest-grossing music biopic of all time domestically, surpassing that film’s $216.6 million total.
For the music industry, the box office numbers are only part of the story.
Michael Jackson‘s streams have surged across platforms since the film’s opening weekend on April 24.
According to Luminate, Jackson’s catalog streams nearly doubled in the days following the film’s wide release, with streams jumping 95% when comparing the opening weekend to the weekend prior.
On Spotify, Jackson’s monthly listener count jumped by 5 million in the week after release – from around 68 million to 73 million.
For the tracking week ending May 7, Jackson had 14 songs simultaneously charting on Spotify‘s weekly global chart, with Billie Jean climbing to No. 3 globally on 37.6 million weekly streams and Beat It reaching No. 6 on 29.1 million streams.
Thriller has also re-entered the Billboard 200 top 10, at No.7.
The streaming windfall from Jackson’s music is directly financially consequential for Sony Music Group.
In a deal that closed in late 2023 and was cleared by a California appeals court in August 2024, Sony Music acquired a 50% stake in Jackson’s publishing and recorded masters catalog. That catalog encompassed his Mijac publishing company, which holds the rights to Jackson’s own compositions plus catalogs from Sly & the Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Ray Charles and others.
MBW previously reported that the deal valued Jackson’s music rights at up to $1.5 billion, with Sony paying at least $600 million for its half.
The acquisition was one of a string of blockbuster catalog deals by Sony Music Group under CEO Rob Stringer, alongside reported acquisitions of Queen‘s and Pink Floyd‘s catalogs – deals that cumulatively pushed Sony’s M&A spending past $6 billion over the past decade.
Speaking at a Bloomberg event in October 2024, Stringer confirmed that Sony had acquired a stake in Jackson’s catalog while noting that the company also participates financially in MJ: The Musical, the Broadway production based on Jackson’s life and music.
The Michael biopic was produced by Graham King – who also produced Bohemian Rhapsody – alongside the estate’s co-executors, John Branca and John McClain.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role, the film is distributed by Lionsgate in the US and Universal Pictures internationally.
The film opened on Friday, April 24, to $97.2 million domestically and $218.8 million worldwide – the largest opening weekend for a music biopic in history, nearly doubling the previous record held by Straight Outta Compton‘s $60.2 million domestic debut in 2015.
Its second weekend brought in $54.5 million domestically, a drop of just 44%.
The film has divided critics – holding a 39% score on Rotten Tomatoes – but has connected with audiences, earning a CinemaScore of A.
It has yet to open in several markets, including Japan, where Jackson’s fanbase has historically been among his most devoted.
Bohemian Rhapsody‘s cumulative global haul of $903.6 million remains the all-time record for a music biopic, though Michael‘s trajectory – particularly its stronger domestic hold – has industry observers tracking whether it could eventually close that gap.
As Rob Stringer told Bloomberg of Sony‘s recent catalog investments: “Using the modern art concept, I think this music is priceless.”Music Business Worldwide