The Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, has shrugged off poor reviews and a troubled production to open with $217m worldwide, including $97m in North America, shattering the record for the biggest biopic opening of all time. The film, which stars Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson and was co-produced by the Jackson estate, took $120.4m internationally and outperformed previous record-holders Oppenheimer ($180.4m) and Bohemian Rhapsody ($124m) in global opening weekend comparisons.
Despite a critics’ score of just 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences have been far more enthusiastic, giving the film a 97% audience score. Early estimates had suggested a North American opening of around $50m, which later rose to $70m, but the film far exceeded both projections. Lionsgate chairman Adam Fogelson told the Associated Press: “From the beginning, all of the signals were that something like this was possible. We were seeing massive engagement with every conceivable audience segment that you could identify.”
The production was unusually rocky. After shooting completed, producers realised they had made a costly mistake: the third act focused on allegations made by Jordan Chandler, whom Jackson paid $23m to in a 1994 settlement. The settlement barred the Jackson estate from ever mentioning Chandler in a movie. A large portion of the film was cut and reshoots costing up to $50m were undertaken at the estate’s expense. Director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan reworked the film to conclude in 1988, before any accusations were made.
Some Jackson family members opposed the film: his sister Janet was uninvolved and does not appear, while his daughter Paris called it “fantasy land”. The reputation of Jackson, who died in 2009, has been repeatedly tarnished by allegations of sexual abuse of children, which he and his estate have denied. He was acquitted in his sole criminal trial in 2005. The film’s release also follows the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland, whose director Dan Reed recently told the Guardian: “It kind of fills me with horror, the degree to which everyone can turn a blind eye to the fact that this guy was a bit of a monster.”
A sequel is already in development, with Fuqua saying he would like to direct it, and Fogelson suggesting a third film is “not inconceivable”. Cut footage, which included material on the Jordan allegations and later events, could be repurposed. Michael has not yet opened in Japan, a major Jackson market, where it is due in June. The film’s production cost came close to $200m, with international rights sold to Universal to defray costs. Bohemian Rhapsody remains the highest-grossing music biopic ever at $910m, while Oppenheimer holds the overall biopic record with $975m.
