The critics may have (mostly) said ‘Beat It’. The movie may have come mired in controversies surrounding both its subject and its creation. But Antoine Fuqua’s jukebox King Of Pop biopic Michael has risen above the noise and proved itself quite the ‘Smooth Criminal’ at the global box office, backed by legions of loyal Michael Jackson fans. And now, three months after it first hit the big screen, Michael has just moonwalked past $1 billion in ticket sales, making history as the first biopic to ever hit that ten-figure milestone.
Previously, the highest grossing musical biopic was Bryan Singer’s Freddie Mercury flick Bohemian Rhapsody, which made a not-to-be-sniffed-at $911 million worldwide. More impressive perhaps than Michael eclipsing BoRhap however are some of the bigger records Fuqua’s Jaafar Jackson starrer has broken. At the time of writing, Michael has now surpassed Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer ($975m) as the biggest movie based on a real person ever made, and — quite remarkably — has left all of The Hunger Games and Twilight Saga movies for dust in the race to become Lionsgate’s first ever billion-dollar picture. All of which is to say that the heavily teased, long-mooted Michael Part 2 (in whatever form that could possibly take) is all but nailed-on to get made following this first film’s formidable box office showing.
While Antoine Fuqua and his Michael collaborators may be ‘hee-hee’ing all the way to the bank, this past weekend hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows at the box office. Disney’s latest live-action remake, this time of the barely-decade-old Moana, hit choppy waters in its opening weekend, taking a modest $95 million worldwide against a reported budget of $250 million after failing to make a splash with fans or critics. And while by no means a failure, Illumination’s critically well received but franchise lowest-opening Minions & Monsters currently sits at a global haul of $280 million. If it caps out at the $400-450 million mark as expected, Pierre Coffin’s animated creature feature — which cost $85 million to make — would sit right at the foot of the franchise’s box office table.
Still, despite a turbulent few weeks for ticket sales as this summer’s blockbusters prove a mixed bag with paying cinemagoers, the overall picture is actually pretty healthy — especially with The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day still to come. Per Variety‘s reporting, this summer is on track to be Hollywood’s biggest at the box office since 2019, and only the second to bring in over $4 billion since the pandemic. And for that, well, what can we say except you’re welcome… (sorry, too soon.)
