Michael is a billionaire and makes cinema history

It becomes the first biographical film in history to exceed a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. A historic feat for the biopic dedicated to the King of Pop.

We wondered if the biopic dedicated to Michael Jackson would be able to dance on the controversies to find a place at the box office.

It is clear that Lionsgate’s risky bet paid off.

Michael has just crossed the symbolic milestone of a billion dollars in global revenue, becoming the very first biopic in history to reach such a level at the box office.

The Antoine Fuqua-directed feature officially surpassed $1 billion on July 12, grossing $1.001 billion worldwide. Michael accumulated $371.8 million in North America and $629.8 million internationally.

This historic success allows the King of Pop to become the first billionaire biographical film in the history of cinema.

But not only that: Michael Jackson sets all the records in his category!

Released April 24, Michael had already started very strongly with 97.2 million dollars during its first American weekend, establishing the best launch of all time for a musical biopic, ahead of Straight Outta Compton (60.2 million). As the weeks went by, the film then crushed the record of Bohemian Rhapsody (911 million) to become the most profitable musical biopic in history, before dethroning Oppenheimer (975 million) and establish itself as the biggest success ever recorded for a biographical film.

Also, Michael now holds the record for Lionsgate’s biggest hit ever, surpassing $865 million from Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Its main actor, Jaafar Jackson, who plays his uncle on screen, marks a historic debut: he becomes the first actor to launch his career with a film that has exceeded a billion dollars in revenue.

With this new milestone reached, Michael now ranks second in the 2026 global box office, behind Super Mario Galaxy and in front Toy Story 5 (which should soon double it).

Building on this immense success, Lionsgate has already confirmed the development of a sequel, which will focus on the last years of Michael Jackson’s life.