Michael Movie Box Office Projection: The Musical Biopic Eyes $150 Million Worldwide Opening

Mumbai, April 22 - The box office is once again set to overpower critics' opinion as the biopic of Pop King Michael Jackson, Michael, is expected to make a thunderous debut worldwide this weekend. The film, which reportedly carries a $200 million production cost, is eyeing a staggering $150 million worldwide debut.

According to Deadline, Michael is expected to collect around $65–70 million from North America alone during its opening weekend at 3900 locations. This points out a record opening for a musical biopic, ahead of both 2015's Straight Outta Compton ($60.2 million) and Bohemian Rhapsody ($51 million).

International markets are likely to contribute an additional $75–80 million across 82 markets, day and date with domestic release for Michael, again a record for the genre, ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody's $69 million overseas bow. In the reported final box office, Bohemian Rhapsody ended its run at $216.6 million domestic, and $910.8 million worldwide as the highest-grossing musical biopic of all-time

With the worldwide opening weekend projected at $150 million for Michael, these numbers place the film among the top-tier global openers of 2026, and best for a musical biographical drama. Trade is projecting Michael to be a billion-dollar grosser, only if it can overcome critics' reviews in the long run.

Michael opened to a disappointing 27% score at Rotten Tomatoes from over 50 reviews. In comparison, Bohemian Rhapsody had a final rating of 60% based on 418 reviews, but it was the audience score of 85% that made all the difference. The same is expected for Michael, given the global popularity of Michael Jackson.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Michael is headlined by Jaafar Jackson, the real-life nephew of Michael Jackson. While critics have reservations about the film overall, Jaafar's resemblance and performance have been widely discussed, and he is being hailed as one of the finest. All eyes are now on the film's release, which is April 24.