Michael becomes the highest-grossing biopic of all time — despite criticisms against limited scope
Despite middling reviews, strong competition and even late rewrites and legal hurdles, the Jackson family film Michael has become the highest-grossing biopic of all time.
The Antoine Fuqua-directed movie, now boasting a $977 million US worldwide box office, surpassed 2025's Oppenheimer to claim the title this weekend, moving behind the previous record holder's gross of $975 million. It was already the highest grossing musical biopic, as it earned more than the $911 million of Bohemian Rhapsody by mid-June. It is also Lionsgate Films' highest grossing movie, ahead of 2013's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Michael follows pop superstar Michael Jackson, played as an adult by his real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson, through his earliest days performing with his family in the Jackson 5, on to the heights of his early career releasing hits like Billie Jean, Beat It and Thriller.
Notably though, the plot neglects to explore or even mention accusations of sexual child sexual abuse levied against Michael Jackson, who died in 2009. Speaking to the New Yorker, Fuqua confirmed the original plan for the script was intended to address them: a planned scene would have seen Michael Jackson stripped and searched by police during the 1993 police raid of Neverland ranch.
But though Fuqua wrote and even filmed many of those segments, they were eventually cut and redone. In the end, a reported legal agreement between the Jackson estate and Jordan Chandler — who, along with his family, accused the singer of sexually molesting him when he was 13 — were largely why that plan was scuppered, according to multiple reports.
As reported by trade magazine Puck, The Hollywood Reporter and others, an out-of-court settlement agreement stipulated that Chandler's story could never be included in any productions about Jackson's life — a stipulation that producers were not aware of until filming was already well underway.
The version that landed in theatres ends in 1988, before any public accusations were made against Jackson. The extensive reshoots, costing as much as $50 million US, were done at the estate's expense.
Jackson and his estate always denied the singer was guilty of any accusations of sexual abuse. Chandler's family stopped co-operating with prosecutors after receiving their settlement, and the investigation was closed. Jackson did not admit guilt in that settlement, though was later prosecuted over allegations for similar allegations in 2005. He was acquitted on all charges.
Still, that framing led to a significant amount of outcry surrounding the project: from think pieces to calls for a boycott, a segment of audience members, journalists and even family members had various issues with how the star's life was reconstructed. Some went so far as to accused Michael of misrepresenting Michael Jackson's story and leaving out key facts to rehabilitate his character for a new, younger audience.
Michael Jackson's sister and parallel superstar Janet Jackson declined to be depicted in the film and is notably absent from the story. His daughter Paris Jackson posted on social media that her script notes were ignored by producers, and that the end-product would satisfy those still obsessed with the "fantasy" of her father's life.
Dan Reed, who directed the documentary Leaving Neverland which deals with those accusations, said Michael existing at all spoke to the shifting perception of the singer over the years.
"People just don’t care." he told The Hollywood reporter. "I think a lot of people just love his music and turn a deaf ear."
Differing opinionsOutside of its subject matter, the film was also subject to criticism around its pacing and storytelling. A mixed slate of reviews pointed to a shallow plot operating to glue musical scenes together, and simplistic, saint-like depiction of its central character — common complaints against musical biopics. Similarly, biopic Bob Marley: One Love was largely panned by critics despite earning an impressive $181 million US.
And the previous musical biopic record-holder, Bohemian Rhapsody, saw similarly mixed reviews before based around its simplistic — and allegedly inaccurate — depiction of Queen singer Freddie Mercury.
Other reviewers found more to enjoy in Michael. Both the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline complimented Jaafar Jackson for the impressive channelling of his uncle. At the same time, the singer's streaming numbers spiked by 95 per cent after the blockbuster film's release in April.
Even still, Michael's opening weekend projections were around a humble $50 million to $70 million for the U.S. and Canadian box office. It wildly outperformed those numbers, pulling in almost $100 million, nearly doubling the opening weekends of other blockbuster music biopics like Straight Outta Compton and Bohemian Rhapsody.
That dominant run has continued ever since. And as both Fuqua and studio Lionsgate have teased, at least one more film following Michael Jackson's later life is expected to hit theatres in the future.
cbc.ca
