Michael is still rocking movie houses around the world.
The 2026 Michael Jackson biopic, which was directed by Antoine Fuqua, stars the King of Pop’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role. In spite of the controversy surrounding Michael, which elides the pop star’s allegations of child sexual abuse, the movie has become a genuine smash hit. After earning the biggest domestic debut in history for a music biopic (beating Straight Outta Compton‘s $60.2 million opening weekend by more than $35 million), the movie has quickly climbed past $800 million worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing movie of 2026 so far, behind The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Per The Numbers, as of Tuesday, June 2, which is midway through the movie’s sixth full week in theaters, Michael has hit a cumulative global gross of $856.5 million. This total comprises a domestic haul of $343.7 million and an international total of $512.8 million. In doing so, it has surpassed the $856.1 million gross of 2018’s Venom, taking the comic book movie’s place at No. 100 on the chart of the Top 100 highest-grossing movies of all time worldwide (not adjusted for inflation).
2026’s Michael should easily climb further up the Top 100 chart as its run continues. In fact, even if it drops 50% during its seventh weekend at the domestic box office (its biggest week-over-week drop so far has been an astoundingly slim 44%), it should make roughly $6 million between Friday and Sunday, pushing its cumulative global gross past the current No. 99 and No. 98 titles, Inside Out ($859.1 million) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($859.2 million).
It ultimately still seems on track to eventually outgross Bohemian Rhapsody ($911 million) as the highest grossing music biopic of all time, which is a feat that would simultaneously land it at No. 80 on the all-time chart. Additionally, if it follows the trajectory shown by its early projections, which seems entirely possible given its uncommonly strong audience retention, it could become the first billion-dollar music biopic and the 61st movie to ever gross more than $1 billion worldwide.
However, it is less likely that it will be able to climb so high that it lands among the Top 50 highest-grossing movies of all time. That would require it to surpass the $1.047 billion gross of 2011’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which may not be possible. Michael is currently trailing behind lower-grossing movies with comparable overseas performances, including the live-action Lilo & Stitch (which is No. 52 and had already made $402.8 million at the domestic box office by the same point in its run).
Another factor that will likely prevent Michael from joining the Top 50 is that its official digital release date is June 9, giving it only one more weekend before its exclusive theatrical window closes. However, the movie has already established itself as a megahit, even without the additional revenue streams that will be coming from the movie’s VOD, physical media, and streaming releases, as well as money garnered from its soundtrack, which features wall-to-wall Michael Jackson music.
- Release Date
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April 24, 2026
- Runtime
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130 minutes
- Director
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Antoine Fuqua
- Writers
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John Logan
- Producers
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Graham King, John Branca, John McClain