“Dream it. See it. Believe it. Make it happen.” That is one of the late Michael Jackson’s favorite expressions. It’s certainly one that would resonate with the “King of Pop” were he around for the opening of Antoine Fuqua’s long-awaited biopic of Jackson in theaters across the globe this weekend.
In North America, Michael is on course to gross anywhere from $12 million to $13.5 million from Thursday previews and special Imax and other PLF sneaks on Wednesday night. That’s on par with the likes of event pics, including Dune: Part II or Oppenheimer, which both reported preview grosses in the $10 million range, not adjusted for inflation.
The big unknown — how front-loaded Michael will be. One thing is clear: fans so far are over-the-moon for the film.
Earlier in the day, the headlines instead were focused on Michael‘s worrisome RT critics’ score, which bounced between 29 percent and 33 percent (both fall in the “rotten” category). Many of the reviews seemingly took issue with the fact that producer Graham Kin, along with Lionsgate, had decided to end the movie before Jackson became engulfed in allegations of child sexual abuse.
“Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan don’t exactly break the mold with Michael, nor do they stuff it with major revelations. But they tap into a vein of melancholy underlaying the stratospheric success that’s surprisingly affecting. The online mob will be sharpening their pitchforks given the movie’s failure to address the accusations of child sexual abuse that tarnished Michael Jackson’s legacy. But the filmmakers get around that by focusing on his early career, ending with the 1988 Bad World Tour concert in London, years before allegations first surfaced. The epilogue card reading “His story continues” does some heavy lifting,” THR chief film critic David Rooney writes in its review.
By Thursday night, the score had shot up to 40 percent.
Michael is tracking to earn at least $65 million-$70 million domestically — some are now even floating $80 million — which would make it the biggest opening ever for a music biopic ahead of Universal’s current record-holder Straight Outta Compton ($60.2 million) and Fox’s Freddy Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody ($55 million), not adjusted for inflation. The producer behind Michael and Rhapsody is Graham King.
When the film first came on tracking three weeks ago, the range was $55 million to $60 million. While still a great number, the subsequent spike signals that Michael may be benefiting from the nostalgia factor that is inspiring infrequent moviegoers to return to the multiplex in droves for the first time since the pandemic, or sparking interest among the most avid moviegoing demo, Gen Zers.
Overseas, Michael is opening in 82 markets, excluding Japan. It unfurled in most key markets on Wednesday, earning 16.6 million fo ra running total of $18.5 million, including previews.
International Wednesday highlights included:
France ($2.6 milion): Biggest opening day ever for a biopic, coming in well above the Wednesday openings of both Oppenheimer and Bohemian Rhapsody.
UK & Ireland ($2.6 million): Biggest opening day for a musical biopic of all time, ahead of the Wednesday opening of Bohemian Rhapsody and well above the Friday openings of Elvis and Rocketman.
Italy ($1.3 million): Biggest opening day ever for a musical biopic, above Bohemian Rhapsody.
Australia ($1 million): Biggest opening day for a musical biopic ever, beating Elvis.
Brazil ($651,000K): Michael added another $651,000 in previews for a running total of $2 million. The combined preview result represents the biggest ever for a non-superhero, non-franchise film in the market. It continues to rank No. 1, with a 68 percent market share.
