Revelers filled the lobby of New York City’s Regal Union Square on Wednesday evening and fans were already dancing in the aisles before the Michael Jackson movie biopic even finished. The long-delayed film has since turned into a box-office force, taking in more than $200 million after posting the biggest opening weekend for a biopic ever.
At Regal Union Square, Joanne was back for a second screening. She said she grew up listening to Jackson because her father was the main fan, and added that she had to come see it again because she thought it was amazing. She even said it was the first time she dressed up for a movie, and called the film a strong starter for fans who want to get into him.
The response around the film has been sharply split. It has a 38% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences have pushed it to 97%, a gap that helps explain why the movie has played so differently in reviews and in theaters. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film opens with “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” and Jackson’s childhood origin story, then shows Joe Jackson whipping a young Michael Jackson. Colman Domingo plays Joe Jackson, while Juliano Valdi plays 10-year-old Michael Jackson, including a scene in which he records lyrics for Motown legend Berry Gordy.
That divide has also surfaced in criticism. ’s Peter Bradshaw called the film “bland, bowdlerised and bad” and said it was “frustratingly shallow.” Belize said she was on the fence about seeing it, but said her skepticism deepened when she learned Janet Jackson is not featured in the movie because she knew the siblings were very close. Janet Jackson did not participate in the production and is entirely left out as a character.
The film’s commercial strength suggests its audience may care less about the missing pieces than the ones it does include. With a sequel likely in the works, the bigger question is not whether the movie found an audience, but how far the franchise can go while leaving out parts of Jackson’s story that some viewers clearly expected to see.