“Michael” has surpassed $1 billion in global ticket sales, becoming the first biopic to achieve the coveted box office milestone.
The crowd-pleasing film about Michael Jackson has generated $629.8 million overseas and $371.8 million domestically, bringing its global tally to $1.001 billion.
Despite noisy behind-the-scenes drama and a critical pile-on, “Michael” has been breaking records and shattering expectations since landing on the big screen in April. The movie opened to $97 million domestically and $217 million globally, shattering the opening weekend benchmark for musical biopics set by 2015’s “Straight Outta Compton” ($60 million). With positive word-of-mouth and audiences who returned a number of times, “Michael” remained a global box office powerhouse through the height of summer movie season.
Among its accolades, “Michael” stands as the highest-grossing musical biopic, surpassing 2018’s Queen sensation “Bohemian Rhapsody” with $911 million worldwide, as well as the biggest film based on a real person, overtaking 2023’s “Oppenheimer” with $975 million. It’s also the largest film of all time for Lionsgate, as well as the studio’s first movie to ever reach $1 billion. Prior to “Michael,” Lionsgate’s highest-grossing releases were 2013’s “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” with $865 million and 2012’s “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2″ with $850 million. Lionsgate produced “Michael” and handled the rollout in North America, while Universal distributed the movie at the international box office.
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