The new musical film about Michael Jackson has stormed the worldwide box office, scoring the highest opening weekend ever for a biopic. The singer's nephew Jaafar Jackson portrays him in 'Michael', which has taken $217m (£160m) globally since it opened on Wednesday.
Queen musical 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which launched with $124m (£91m) in 2018, previously held the record for a musical biopic. But 'Michael' also surpassed the $180m (£133m) taken by 2024's 'Oppenheimer', giving the King of Pop the biggest worldwide opening weekend for a biopic of any kind.
Adam Fogelson, chairman of the film's US distributor Lionsgate, said: 'You don't deliver this figure unless you're seeing huge numbers across every conceivable demographic. [Audiences] are clearly having a blast.'
The film has gone down much better with audiences than with critics, several of whom complained that it depicted a 'sanitised' version of Jackson's career. Reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes recorded a significant gap between the 38% average score awarded by critics and the 97% average rating from audiences.
'Michael' does not include any mention of the child sexual abuse accusations that were made against the singer. Jackson always maintained his innocence and was found not guilty of child molestation in 2005. Filmmakers originally intended to include references to some allegations, but the footage was scrapped after the rediscovery of a historic non-disclosure agreement Jackson made with one of his accusers.
The third act had been due to centre on accusations made by Jordan Chandler in the 1990s, but a settlement included a clause prohibiting the singer's estate from ever mentioning him in any movie. The film was reworked and now concludes in 1988, before any accusations were made.
Director Antoine Fuqua told Deadline that the rediscovery of the NDA led to a 'tough period' because the team had to 'rethink everything'. The resulting film leans heavily on recreated concert performances and examines the strained relationship with his father Joseph.
The costly reshoots contributed to the film's sizeable price tag, reported to be around $200m (£148m), making it one of the most expensive biopics of all time. 'Michael' opened simultaneously worldwide but is yet to launch in Japan, where a June release is scheduled.
Source: www.bbc.com