Deadline<\/a> reports that early returns for Lionsgate\u2019s Michael show the film is off to a powerful start, with Friday earnings projected between $35 million and $40 million, including $12.6 million from previews. The film is currently tracking toward an $85 million to $95 million opening weekend, with the possibility of climbing higher if demand proves front-loaded.<\/p>\n\u201cSomething special is happening, people are dancing in the theaters,\u201d says one source close to the film.<\/p>\n
The debut is already the strongest post-pandemic opening for Lionsgate, surpassing John Wick: Chapter 4 ($73.8 million), and sets a new high for a musical biopic, overtaking Straight Outta Compton ($60.2 million).<\/p>\n
Looking at past comparisons, 2018\u2019s Bohemian Rhapsody opened with $51 million domestically after an $18.8 million Friday and preview total, maintaining steady numbers through the weekend.<\/p>\n
Social media data reflects strong audience anticipation. Analytics firm RelishMix reported a combined 417.9 million followers across platforms engaging with Michael, significantly above genre averages and ahead of comparable films like Elvis and Rocketman.<\/p>\n
\u201cConvo runs positive for Michael, with fans treating trailers like a time machine and the casting as emotional insurance; \u2018I literally just got shivers and goosebumps.\u2019 Legacy worship is loud and specific, framing MJ as untouchable cultural capital; \u2018No matter what anyone says about him\u2026 he changed the world\u2019 and \u2018Long live the KING of Music and Entertainment.\u2019 Craft nerds clock the mimicry, voice, and movement like a performance audit; \u2018The attention to detail in his movements is incredible\u2019 and \u2018That voice is spot on. I\u2019m impressed.\u2019 The family angle reads as authenticity and brand safety at once; \u2018Feels really fitting they have his nephew playing MJ\u2019 and \u2018He\u2019s a clone of Michael.\u2019 Biopic comps show up as upside signals and expectations management; \u2018I loved Bohemian Rhapsody\u2019 and \u2018as amazing as the American Dream movie.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite Michael\u2019s strong performance, other films continue to hold steady at the box office.<\/p>\n
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie \u2014 $20.5M weekend, $385.7M total<\/p>\n
Project Hail Mary \u2014 $12M weekend, $304.2M total<\/p>\n
The Mummy \u2014 $5.1M weekend, $22.9M total<\/p>\n
The Drama \u2014 $2.6M weekend, $44.6M total<\/p>\n
Scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n
The film brought in $12.6 million in previews, including $3.8 million from early IMAX and premium screenings. Audience reception remains strong, with early PostTrak data showing 5 stars, 88% positive ratings, and 81% definite recommendation.<\/p>\n
Demographics show a diverse and youthful audience, with 58% under age 35 and a slight female majority at 56%. Half of the attendees cited being Michael Jackson fans as their primary reason for seeing the film.<\/p>\n
Audience scores are high, with a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A- CinemaScore, aligning with films like Elvis and Rocketman.<\/p>\n
Earlier projections indicated preview totals between $12.5 million and $13.5 million, already surpassing other musical biopics and even outperforming major releases like Dune: Part Two, Oppenheimer, and Toy Story 4 in early earnings.<\/p>\n
The film is also exceeding expectations compared to Project Hail Mary, which opened with $12 million in previews and went on to debut at $80.5 million.<\/p>\n
With strong international numbers already reported at $18.5 million on its first day overseas, Michael is shaping up to be a major global success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Strong previews and fan momentum push Michael Jackson biopic toward one of the biggest musical biopic debuts ever…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,109168,134,1689,18030,19928,24480],"class_list":["post-630267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bohemian-rhapsody","tag-entertainment","tag-film","tag-lionsgate","tag-michael-jackson","tag-project-hail-mary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}