‘Michael’ tops $911.9M to dethrone ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as top music biopic

‘Michael’ has officially surpassed ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to become the highest grossing music biopic of all time, landing $911.9 million (£680 million) worldwide, according to Deadline. That total puts it just above the 2018 Queen and Freddie Mercury story, which earned $910.9 million (£679 million). In other words, we are not talking about a “close call.” The margin is razor thin, and the market is already treating this as proof that music biopics can scale like event franchises.

The new leader is also on a path toward the next psychological checkpoint. The film’s recent release in Japan gives it “a strong chance” of passing the $1 billion barrier, a level that only The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has reached so far in 2026, per the source. And because this is a sequel conversation movie executives cannot ignore, Lionsgate has confirmed the sequel to ‘Michael’ is moving forward. Chairman Adam Fogelson said last month that the second entry may not follow chronologically from the end of the first film, effectively flagging that the next chapter could be shaped by strategy, not just timeline.

So what is actually on screen that makes this performance make sense? The film depicts Michael Jackson’s life from early involvement with the Jackson 5 in the 1960s through the Bad World Tour in the late 1980s, with Jaafar Jackson taking on the title role as the King of Pop’s real-life nephew. It opened in April to the largest-ever first weekend for a music biopic, establishing momentum early rather than relying on slow-burn word of mouth. When a movie hits that kind of opening weekend and then keeps climbing globally, studios start to see not just a hit, but an engine.

That is the commercial story. The legal and production story is where the plot thickens, because a franchise built on a living controversy has to manage more than schedules. The source notes that any second film might be expected to tackle the child sex abuse allegations made against Jackson. The original script for ‘Michael’ did include something in its third act related to these allegations, but a clause in a legal settlement was found that forbade the Jackson estate from mentioning Jordan Chandler, one of the accusers. The result was not a gentle edit. The film was forced into $50 million of reshoots to change the ending of ‘Michael’.

Those $50 million reshoots are a key detail for decision-makers because they show how contractual constraints can translate into real budget impact and narrative redesign late in the process. It also explains why the sequel strategy may diverge from chronological storytelling. If the timeline itself would force mention of specific individuals tied to legal limitations, then rearranging the story order or altering what the sequel covers becomes an economic decision, not just a creative one.

There is also a reputational risk overlay that executives in studios and streaming pipelines routinely wrestle with: audience goodwill can be fragile, and criticism can harden once a film becomes a cultural reference point rather than “just entertainment.” NME’s three-star review described ‘Michael’ as “a slick, accessible advert for Jackson’s incredible imperial phase,” while adding that if the singer’s estate wants “to be startin’ somethin’ bigger like a film franchise,” they will have work cut out. That review point matters because it tells you how stakeholders within the industry are already framing the franchise ambition. The movie is profitable. The question is whether the next installment can keep profitability while navigating narrative boundaries.

The source also surfaces that James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who made their own allegations of child sexual abuse by Jackson in the 2019 documentary ‘Leaving Neverland,’ have been given a new trial date for 2028. That is not directly about the box office, but it is a second-order constraint for any future production. Legal proceedings with high public visibility can affect everything from press posture to marketing tone to the willingness of partners, talent, and distributors to move fast on a franchise.

Finally, there is the “everyone watches the box office” industry dynamic. ‘Michael’ was produced by Graham King’s team, the same British mogul who also produced ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ per the source. That shared producer link is a quiet signal to the market: talent and production muscle are clustering around a formula that can win. For peers, the stakes are simple and urgent. A dethroned box office king is more than a stat. It is a roadmap studios will try to replicate, while keeping one eye on legal settlement language, budgets that can get hit by reshoots, and reputational landmines that can’t be patched after release.

If ‘Michael’ crosses $1 billion, it will turn the sequel from “possible” into “financially inevitable,” and it will likely intensify pressure on the Jackson estate and Lionsgate to lock in a plan that can survive both scrutiny and storytelling constraints. Meanwhile, the trial date for 2028 and the settlement-related Jordan Chandler restrictions loom in the background, reminding executives that the entertainment business does not get to forget real-world disputes just because a script does.