Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic, has become the highest-grossing biopic of all time.
The film has grossed USD $977 million at the worldwide box office, overtaking Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer to take the record for any movie based on a real-life figure.
It passed the milestone on Sunday (June 28), according to Variety.
The box-office record is only part of the story for Sony Music.
The film has driven a surge in streaming of Jackson’s catalog – 50% of which Sony Music acquired in a deal that valued the singer’s rights at up to $1.5 billion.
Michael has grossed $370.2 million in North America and $607.2 million in international markets since its release in April.
The film now stands as the biggest release in Lionsgate‘s history, ahead of 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which grossed $865 million.
It had already overtaken 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody earlier in June – the Queen film that grossed $911 million – to become the highest-grossing music biopic ever.
Oppenheimer, Nolan‘s 2023 film about the theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, had held the all-time biopic record with $975 million.
On Lionsgate‘s earnings call in May, CEO Jon Feltheimer predicted Michael would become the studio’s first film to pass $1 billion worldwide, with the film still on release in Japan.
Michael reached the record despite its reviews, holding a critics’ score of 38% on Rotten Tomatoes against a 97% audience rating.
The theatrical run has fed directly into streaming activity for Jackson’s music.
Jackson’s catalog streams nearly doubled in the days after Michael‘s wide release, rising 95% from the weekend before its opening, according to Luminate data previously reported by MBW.
On Spotify, Jackson’s monthly listener count climbed by 5 million in the week after release, from around 68 million to 73 million. As of writing, the late artist’s monthly listeners on Spotify stood at 108 million.
Billie Jean has since returned to No. 1 on Spotify‘s Global chart, more than four decades after the single’s 1983 release.
Jackson was also the most-played artist on YouTube in the UK over the past month – with twice the plays of his nearest rival, Drake – and topped Spotify‘s UK chart in the month after the film’s release, according to the BBC.
That streaming surge is financially consequential for Sony Music Group.
In a deal cleared by a California appeals court in August 2024, Sony Music acquired a 50% stake in Jackson’s publishing and recorded-masters catalog, as MBW reported.
MBW understands that the transaction valued Jackson’s music rights at up to $1.5 billion, with Sony paying at least $600 million for its half.
The catalog includes Jackson’s Mijac publishing company, which controls his own compositions alongside catalogs from Sly & the Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield and Ray Charles.
Sony also distributes Jackson’s recorded music, meaning the company participates in the film-driven uplift across both publishing and recordings.
Sony‘s ties to Jackson run back to the 1980s.
In 1985, Jackson bought the ATV catalog – home to songs written by The Beatles – for $47.5 million, in a deal steered by his lawyer John Branca.
Sony bought half of that catalog in 1995, creating the Sony/ATV joint venture.
It acquired the estate’s remaining 50% of Sony/ATV in 2016 for $750 million.
Two years later, in 2018, Sony paid the estate a further $287.5 million for its 10% stake in EMI Music Publishing.
Across those transactions and a separate recorded-music distribution agreement, Sony paid the Jackson estate more than $1 billion within a few years.
The 2024 catalog acquisition formed part of a wider run of deals by Sony Music Group under Chairman Rob Stringer, alongside its reported purchases of the Queen and Pink Floyd catalogs.
Backed by capital from Apollo, Sony has spent more than $2 billion combined on the three catalogs, as MBW has reported.
Speaking at a Bloomberg event in October 2024, Stringer confirmed the Jackson catalog stake and noted that Sony also participates financially in MJ: The Musical, the Broadway production based on the singer’s life.
“Using the modern art concept, I think this music is priceless,” Stringer said of Sony‘s catalog investments.
The catalog’s value reflects the transformation of the Michael Jackson estate since his death.
When Jackson died in June 2009 at the age of 50, the estate carried debts exceeding $500 million, according to court filings later lodged by its executors.
Co-executors John Branca and John McClain cleared those debts and rebuilt the estate through catalog deals, the This Is It documentary and stage productions including MJ: The Musical.
Jackson’s posthumous earnings have since passed $2.5 billion, according to MBW‘s reporting.
Michael was produced by Graham King – who also produced Bohemian Rhapsody – alongside Branca and McClain.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film stars the singer’s real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in his acting debut, with Colman Domingo and Nia Long as his parents.
The estate co-financed the film with Lionsgate and Universal Pictures, its US and international distributors, and funded a round of reshoots.
Those reshoots followed the removal of scenes dramatizing a 1993 lawsuit, after producers found a clause in the related settlement barring any depiction of the accuser.
The film’s reported budget sits at around $200 million, although box-office tracker The Numbers lists its production cost at $155 million.
A precise profit figure has not been disclosed, as exhibitors retain roughly half of box-office receipts, with marketing costs and revenue split across Lionsgate, Universal and the estate.
Lionsgate‘s stock rose after the film’s record opening weekend in April, with analysts at Benchmark raising their price target on the shares to $15 from $12.
The performance has strengthened Lionsgate‘s investor story following its separation from Starz in May 2025.
Feltheimer said “massive hits like The Housemaid and Michael are strengthening our brand” as Lionsgate reported its results in May.
Lionsgate is expected to green-light at least one more film about Jackson’s life, according to Variety.
Michael remains the second-highest-grossing film of 2026 worldwide, behind The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
With the film still in release in Japan, Lionsgate expects it to become its first release to cross $1 billion at the global box office.Music Business Worldwide
