Lionsgate has now announced that Michael is expected to close out its third weekend in theaters by hitting a cumulative global box office total of $570 million, comprising $238.9 million from domestic theaters and $331.1 million from international markets. This means that the movie has more or less simultaneously become the second music biopic ever to pass the $500 million global milestone (after Bohemian Rhapsody) and the No. 1 music biopic of all time in North America (passing Bohemian Rhapsody's $216.7 million domestic gross).
2018's Bohemian Rhapsody, which won four Oscars, still maintains its title as the highest-grossing music biopic of all time worldwide, as its cumulative global gross is a whopping $903.6 million. However, 2026's Michael is giving it a run for its money. While its sophomore weekend drop was slightly higher than Rhapsody's 38.9%, its projected weekend 3 drop of just 36% is much better than the 2018 movie's 48.6%.
The Queen biopic had only hit a cumulative domestic total of $128.2 million by the end of its third weekend, which Michael has surged past by a considerable margin. However, Bohemian Rhapsody had two major factors working in its favor to allow it to hit its record-breaking worldwide gross. First, it was a slow and steady hit with strong retention through the end of its run. Second, it overperformed internationally, with 76% of its total gross coming from overseas markets.
While Michael is showing a similar level of retention, it has only earned 58.2% of its worldwide gross from international markets. Therefore, it ultimately remains to be seen if its domestic surge can overcome the fact that international markets are just slightly cooler on the project.
Whether or not it is able to usurp Bohemian Rhapsody as the highest-grossing music biopic worldwide, the new movie has pulled off an extraordinary box office feat. In spite of the fact that Michael reviews have been largely negative, earning the movie a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 39%, it has taken just three weekends for it to earn back more than two and a half times its reported budget of roughly $200 million.
Typically, because theaters keep half of ticket sales and publicity costs are not factored into production budgets, movies need to earn back two and a half times their budgets in order to break even. However, Michael is a Lionsgate production, and the studio is known for offsetting the majority of their movies' budgets with international pre-sales. Therefore, it is highly likely that the movie started turning a major profit long before hitting the $500 million milestone.
Enjoy ScreenRant's box office coverage? Click below to sign up for my weekly box office newsletter (make sure to check "Box Office" in your preferences) and get exclusive analysis, predictions, and more:
Sign Up
Release Date
April 24, 2026
Runtime
130 minutes
Director
Antoine Fuqua
Writers
John Logan
Producers
Graham King, John Branca, John McClain
-
Jaafar Jackson
Michael Jackson
-
© Lionsgate / Courtesy Everett Collection
English (US) ·