Michael has climbed to $577 million worldwide and is now close to the $600 million mark, putting it on the brink of another box-office milestone as its run continues. The musical biopic has already taken in $240 million in the United States, making it the highest-grossing music biopic in the domestic market.
The film dropped around 33% between its second and third weekends, but still made $36.5 million in that span, enough to keep its pace well ahead of most music-driven dramas. Industry projections expect Michael to cross $600 million globally within the next week, and some estimates now put its eventual theatrical finish at around $800 million worldwide.
That would leave the film behind only Bohemian Rhapsody, which ended its theatrical run with more than $903.6 million worldwide, and would make Michael only the second music biopic ever to cross $500 million at the global box office. The film traces Michael Jackson’s early life and rise chronologically, from his years with the Jackson 5 to the Bad tour era, with Jaafar Jackson in the lead role and supporting performances from Nia Long, Miles Teller and Colman Domingo.
The momentum is impressive, but the film is not finished yet. Michael still awaits release in South Korea and Japan, two markets that could add to its total after it has already done the heavy lifting in the United States and other territories. With a reported production budget of $155 million, the box-office math has already turned the film from a niche music-biopic release into one of the year’s biggest performers.
By the time those final overseas dates arrive, the central question will not be whether Michael is a hit. It already is. The real measure now is how far past $600 million it can go before the theatrical run closes.
