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Michael, the big-budget Michael Jackson spectacle, shrugged off poor reviews, controversy over its omission of child molestation allegations and a troubled production to launch with $7.98 million in Australian cinemas<\/a> over the weekend, the highest opening for a musical biopic in Australian box office history.<\/p>\n It blew the previous record holder, Bohemian Rhapsody, out of the water. That film \u2013 which, like Michael, was also produced by Graham King \u2013 made $6.76 million in its opening weekend in 2018. Baz Luhrmann\u2019s similarly popular Elvis took $6.74 million in 2022<\/a>, and Straight Outta Compton grossed $4.52 million in 2015.<\/p>\n Michael was an audacious bet by Lionsgate on an extraordinarily popular but controversial figure. Jackson was the subject of multiple accusations of child sexual abuse, all of which he and his estate vehemently denied. In 1994, Jackson reportedly paid millions to settle out of court<\/a> with one of his accusers, Jordan Chandler. He was also cleared of all charges<\/a> in a four-month sex abuse trial in 2005, in which he was acquitted of molesting a 13-year-old boy.<\/p>\n In February, a new lawsuit<\/a> was filed by four siblings who accused Jackson of having been a \u201cserial child predator\u201d who allegedly preyed upon them when they were seven or eight. Representatives for the Jackson estate denied the claims, calling them a \u201cdesperate money grab\u201d.<\/p>\n Related Article But three years after Leaving Neverland, the 2009 documentary about Jackson\u2019s alleged sexual abuse of children, King announced plans for the biopic. Jackson\u2019s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, was cast to star.<\/p>\n Despite a slew of scathing reviews \u2013 some critics described it as clich\u00e9d, bland and bowdlerised<\/a> \u2013 the film has earned $9.32 million at the Australian box office since it opened on Wednesday. This puts it leagues above its current competitors, Project Hail Mary and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which earned $1.81 million and $1.73 million, respectively, for the past weekend. The former film has been showing in cinemas for six weekends, and the latter for four.<\/p>\n Michael didn\u2019t quite manage to overtake the country\u2019s biggest opening of the year so far. That record remains with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which grossed $9.44 million over its first four days earlier this month.<\/p>\n The authorised portrayal of the King of Pop, co-produced by the Jackson estate, also smashed the record debut for music biopics in North America. It grossed $US97 million ($135 million) in US and Canadian theatres, according to studio estimates on Sunday (US time).<\/p>\n The film far surpassed previous biopic top performers in the US such as Straight Outta Compton (a $US60.2 million debut in 2015) and Bohemian Rhapsody ($US51 million in 2018).<\/p>\n Globally, Michael has so far grossed over $303 million,<\/a> a new high for a music biopic. Universal picked up distribution in most international markets.<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, estimates for Michael were closer to $US50 million in the US. Going into the weekend, the studio estimated closer to $US70 million. But it wildly over-performed.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the beginning, all of the signals were that something like this was possible,\u201d said Lionsgate chairman Adam Fogelson. \u201cWe were seeing massive engagement with every conceivable audience segment that you could identify.\u201d<\/p>\n But Michael had an unusually rocky production. After shooting was completed, producers belatedly discovered a costly mistake: The third act focused on the accusations of Jordan Chandler, then 13 years old, whom Jackson paid $US23 million to in a 1994 settlement. The terms of that settlement barred the Jackson estate from ever mentioning Chandler in a movie.<\/p>\n Related Article A huge chunk of the film had to be cut. Reshoots for as much as $US50 million were done, paid for by the Jackson estate. Director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan reworked the movie to conclude in 1988, before any accusations were made.<\/p>\n Some Jackson family members opposed the film. Janet Jackson was not involved and doesn\u2019t appear in it. Jackson\u2019s daughter, Paris, called it \u201cfantasy land\u201d.<\/p>\n The film\u2019s total production cost came close to $US200 million. To defray costs, Lionsgate sold international distribution rights to Universal. A sequel is in development. A third film after that, Fogelson said, was \u201cnot inconceivable\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe audience spoke loud and clear,\u201d Fogelson said. \u201cThe portion of Michael\u2019s life that this story tells couldn\u2019t have gotten into those allegations because the allegations themselves hadn\u2019t happened in the period this movie existed. I think the audience is judging it on those terms. We\u2019ll see what happens as we move into the possibility of subsequent films.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics slammed the film for glossing over some of the less convenient aspects of Jackson\u2019s life. It scored a paltry 38 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>. But audiences were far more enthusiastic. Michael earned an \u201cA-\u201d CinemaScore<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201dIt\u2019s only human nature to enjoy yourself at the movie theatre,\u201d said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Comscore. \u201cThe movie was perfectly positioned ahead of the start of the (northern) summer movie season, which launches later this week with The Devil Wears Prada 2 that is also poised to outpace even the most generous opening weekend projections.\u201c<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The opening for Michael added to a strong spring for Hollywood boosted by box office hits like Amazon MGM\u2019s Project Hail Mary and Universal\u2019s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. After three weeks atop the box office, the Mario sequel slid to second place, with $US21.2 million. In four weeks, it has collected $US386.5 million domestically and $US445 million internationally.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Project Hail Mary surged past $US600 million worldwide in its sixth weekend of release. The film\u2019s total haul for Amazon MGM stands at $US305.3 million domestic and $US613.3 million globally.<\/p>\n With AP<\/p>\n Must-see movies, interviews and all the latest from the world of film delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our Screening Room newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2992e91aec9b5c65637121432ed3c31e053934ef.jpeg\")
The Michael film is clearly startin\u2019 somethin\u2019, breaking box office records for musical biopics.Universal Pictures<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777276451_256_637e3f18ce76f01723e9175002b43a02f8b32d0f.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Jaafar](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777276451_970_2992e91aec9b5c65637121432ed3c31e053934ef.jpeg\")
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Nell Geraets<\/a> is a Culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 27, 2026 \u2014 3:21pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-633652","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633652","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=633652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}