‘Michael’ breaks historic music biopic record

Michael has overtaken Bohemian Rhapsody as the highest-grossing music biopic of all time.

The Michael Jackson movie was released in cinemas on April 24 and has taken $911.9 million worldwide, overtaking the 2018 film about Queen front man Freddie Mercury, which took $910.9 million across the global box office, Deadline reports.

Michael has also become the highest-grossing biopic domestically.

And the film will be looking to cross the $1 billion mark in global takings, a feat already reached by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, making the animated sequel the best-performing movie in 2026 so far.

Michael ended amid the King of Pop's Bad tour in 1987, and a second film is under works, with studio Lionsgate recently confirming they already have "25 to 30 percent" of the project in the bank from the previous shoot.

Speaking in a quarterly earnings call in May, Lionsgate film chief Adam Fogelson said, "We are really excited about the progress we’re making with respect to a second Michael film.”

He explained, “We think we’ve got 25 to 30 percent of a second movie already shot from the prior production activity, and so obviously that will have some [financial] benefit ultimately, but we’re going to make sure we make a big and satisfying movie for a global audience once again."

“All the conversations that we’ve been having with all of the appropriate parties continue to go exceptionally well,” Adam added.

Fogelson hinted that the follow-up film might not end up being chronological, saying, "We can go forwards about backwards in telling this story."

Michael, which was directed by Antoine Fuqua from a script written by John Logan, starred the late musician's nephew Jaafar Jackson and child star Juliano Valdi as the singer in different stages of his life.

The first movie was set to explore the fallout of Michael Jackson's molestation allegations on his life, with a third act dedicated to the scandal.

However, attorneys for the Thriller hitmaker's estate discovered a clause in a settlement with Jordan Chandler, one of the singer's accusers, which barred him from being depicted or mentioned in any film project.