{"id":412044,"date":"2026-04-26T17:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T17:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/412044\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T17:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T17:51:09","slug":"michael-jackson-biopic-box-office-outgrosses-almost-all-of-2026s-biggest-movies-in-one-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/412044\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Jackson Biopic Box Office Outgrosses Almost All Of 2026’s Biggest Movies In One Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

The global debut of Michael<\/a> is off the wall.<\/p>\n

The record-shattering Michael Jackson biopic, which debuted on April 24, was directed by Antoine Fuqua and stars the King of Pop’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role opposite an ensemble cast that includes Nia Long, Miles Teller, Laura Harrier, Mike Myers, and Colman Domingo. In spite of the fact that Michael has drawn controversy<\/a> over its sunny depiction of the star, with no mention of the allegations of child sexual abuse that first arose in 1993 and came to a head following his 2009 death, the movie has already become a tremendous box office success.<\/p>\n

Side A \u00b7 33&frac13; RPM
\n How Well Do You Know Michael Jackson’s Music?
\n \u201cWho’s Bad?\u201d<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udddfThriller’Cause this is thriller<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc8eBillie
JeanShe’s just a girl<\/p>\n

\u26a1Beat ItJust beat it<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd7aMoonwalkMotown 25<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa9BadShamone!<\/p>\n

DROP THE NEEDLE \u2192<\/p>\n

01<\/p>\n

Released in November 1982, Thriller is the best-selling album of all time. The producer behind its glossy fusion of pop, funk, rock and disco had already worked with Michael on Off the Wall and would return for Bad. Who is he?<\/p>\n

\n AGeorge Martin
\n BQuincy Jones
\n CBerry Gordy
\n DRod Temperton\n <\/p>\n

\u2713 Correct! Quincy Jones \u2014 Michael met him on the set of The Wiz (1978), and Jones went on to produce the trio of albums that defined Michael’s solo career: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987). Thriller has sold more than 70 million copies worldwide. George Martin produced The Beatles. Berry Gordy ran Motown. Rod Temperton wrote the title track but didn’t produce.<\/p>\n

\u2717 Off the beat. The answer is Quincy Jones. George Martin was The Beatles’ producer. Berry Gordy founded Motown and signed the Jackson 5 but wasn’t behind the boards on Thriller. Rod Temperton wrote the title track \u201cThriller\u201d (plus \u201cRock with You\u201d and \u201cOff the Wall\u201d) but it was Quincy Jones who produced all three of Michael’s adult-era masterpieces.<\/p>\n

NEXT \u2192<\/p>\n

02<\/p>\n

On May 16, 1983, NBC aired the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special. Dressed in a sequined jacket and single white glove, Michael unveiled the moonwalk to the world during a solo performance of which song?<\/p>\n

\n ARock with You
\n BDon’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
\n CBillie Jean
\n DBeat It\n <\/p>\n

\u2713 Correct! Billie Jean. After performing Jackson 5 hits with his brothers, Michael took the stage alone for a lip-synced \u201cBillie Jean\u201d and glided backwards across it \u2014 a move he’d been refining from street dancers and mime technique. Motown 25 became one of the most-watched TV specials of the 80s and cemented Michael as the biggest solo star on the planet.<\/p>\n

\u2717 Off the beat. The answer is Billie Jean. \u201cRock with You\u201d and \u201cDon’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough\u201d are from Off the Wall. \u201cBeat It\u201d is on Thriller but wasn’t the Motown 25 solo number. It was \u201cBillie Jean\u201d \u2014 mime-walked, glove-flashed, and watched by an estimated 47 million Americans live.<\/p>\n

NEXT \u2192<\/p>\n

03<\/p>\n

Long before Thriller, an eleven-year-old Michael fronted his brothers on the Jackson 5’s first Motown single \u2014 a bouncing piece of bubblegum soul that hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1970. What was the song?<\/p>\n

\n AI’ll Be There
\n BABC
\n CI Want You Back
\n DThe Love You Save\n <\/p>\n

\u2713 Correct! \u201cI Want You Back\u201d \u2014 released October 1969, written by The Corporation (Berry Gordy and his in-house team) and topping the Hot 100 by January 1970. The Jackson 5 then did something no act had done before: their next three singles (\u201cABC,\u201d \u201cThe Love You Save,\u201d \u201cI’ll Be There\u201d) also all hit #1, giving them four straight chart-toppers to start their career.<\/p>\n

\u2717 Off the beat. The answer is \u201cI Want You Back.\u201d \u201cABC,\u201d \u201cThe Love You Save,\u201d and \u201cI’ll Be There\u201d were the group’s next three singles \u2014 each also hit #1, making them the first act ever to see their first four Motown releases top the Hot 100. But \u201cI Want You Back,\u201d from October 1969, was the one that broke them.<\/p>\n

NEXT \u2192<\/p>\n

04<\/p>\n

Thriller’s genre-smashing rock crossover \u201cBeat It\u201d features a blistering guitar solo recorded as a favour to Quincy Jones \u2014 reportedly for a case of beer, with no pay and no credit on the original sleeve. Which rock legend played it?<\/p>\n

\n ASlash
\n BEddie Van Halen
\n CJimmy Page
\n DPrince\n <\/p>\n

\u2713 Correct! Eddie Van Halen \u2014 Van Halen were touring when Quincy Jones phoned. Eddie dropped by Westlake Studios, cut two takes for free (and, yes, allegedly a case of beer), and was so uncredited on the first pressings that fans didn’t realise it was him. The solo helped \u201cBeat It\u201d become a smash on MTV and rock radio at a time when black artists rarely crossed that line.<\/p>\n

\u2717 Off the beat. The answer is Eddie Van Halen. Slash played on Michael’s later song \u201cBlack or White.\u201d Jimmy Page is Led Zeppelin. Prince was famously offered the duet on \u201cBad\u201d but turned it down. Eddie Van Halen’s \u201cBeat It\u201d solo \u2014 recorded in a single afternoon, uncredited, supposedly paid in beer \u2014 is one of the most famous guitar solos in pop history.<\/p>\n

NEXT \u2192<\/p>\n

05<\/p>\n

In January 1985, Michael co-wrote the charity single \u201cWe Are the World\u201d for USA for Africa \u2014 recorded in a single overnight session with 46 superstars after the American Music Awards. Which fellow soul icon shared the writing credit with him?<\/p>\n

\n AStevie Wonder
\n BLionel Richie
\n CPaul McCartney
\n DSmokey Robinson\n <\/p>\n

\u2713 Correct! Lionel Richie \u2014 the two wrote the song in about a week, with Quincy Jones producing. Harry Belafonte had the original idea, Ken Kragen organised the session, and a handwritten studio sign told arriving superstars to \u201cCheck your egos at the door.\u201d It sold over 20 million copies and won four Grammys including Record and Song of the Year.<\/p>\n

\u2717 Off the beat. The answer is Lionel Richie. Stevie Wonder sang on the record and helped in the studio but didn’t co-write it. Paul McCartney collaborated with Michael on \u201cThe Girl Is Mine\u201d and \u201cSay Say Say,\u201d not this one. Smokey Robinson wrote at Motown. Richie and Jackson wrote \u201cWe Are the World\u201d together in about a week, with Quincy Jones producing.<\/p>\n

NEXT \u2192<\/p>\n

06<\/p>\n

Released in December 1983, the nearly 14-minute \u201cThriller\u201d short film \u2014 with its werewolf cold open, red leather jacket and graveyard zombie choreography \u2014 changed the music video forever. Which filmmaker directed it?<\/p>\n

\n AMartin Scorsese
\n BJohn Landis
\n CBrian De Palma
\n DBob Giraldi\n <\/p>\n

\u2713 Correct! John Landis \u2014 Michael had loved Landis’ 1981 horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London and specifically asked him to direct. Special-effects maestro Rick Baker handled the werewolf\/zombie makeup, Vincent Price delivered the iconic rap at the end, and the making-of documentary became one of the best-selling VHS tapes ever. Scorsese later directed \u201cBad.\u201d Bob Giraldi directed \u201cBeat It.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2717 Off the beat. The answer is John Landis \u2014 fresh off 1981’s An American Werewolf in London, which is why Michael picked him. Scorsese would direct the \u201cBad\u201d video four years later. De Palma didn’t do a MJ video. Bob Giraldi directed \u201cBeat It.\u201d Landis also made the 35-minute making-of special that turned into a home-video sensation.<\/p>\n

NEXT \u2192<\/p>\n

07<\/p>\n

When Bad arrived in August 1987, Michael didn’t just follow Thriller \u2014 he set a Billboard record that no album had achieved before. What was the milestone?<\/p>\n

\n AFirst album with five #1 singles on the Hot 100
\n BFirst album certified diamond
\n CFirst album to debut at #1
\n DFirst album released simultaneously on CD and vinyl\n <\/p>\n

\u2713 Correct! Five #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 \u2014 a first for any album. The run: \u201cI Just Can’t Stop Loving You\u201d (with Siedah Garrett), \u201cBad,\u201d \u201cThe Way You Make Me Feel,\u201d \u201cMan in the Mirror,\u201d and \u201cDirty Diana.\u201d Bad also launched Michael’s first world tour as a solo artist and featured the Martin Scorsese-directed title-track video opposite a young Wesley Snipes.<\/p>\n

\u2717 Off the beat. The answer is five #1 singles on the Hot 100. Diamond certification wasn’t created until 1999. The first album to debut at #1 was Elton John’s Captain Fantastic (1975). Simultaneous CD\/vinyl releases weren’t a Bad-specific milestone. Bad’s five chart-toppers \u2014 from \u201cI Just Can’t Stop Loving You\u201d through \u201cDirty Diana\u201d \u2014 was the record no album had ever hit before.<\/p>\n

NEXT \u2192<\/p>\n

08<\/p>\n

Michael is universally known as the \u201cKing of Pop,\u201d but the nickname was specifically popularised by a close friend who bestowed it on him while presenting him with the Soul Train Heritage Award in 1989. Who was she?<\/p>\n

\n ADiana Ross
\n BOprah Winfrey
\n CElizabeth Taylor
\n DWhitney Houston\n <\/p>\n

\u2713 Correct! Elizabeth Taylor \u2014 a close friend of Michael’s since the 80s \u2014 called him \u201cthe true king of pop, rock and soul\u201d while presenting the Soul Train Heritage Award in March 1989. He embraced the moniker, eventually insisting media outlets use it when referring to him. Diana Ross had mentored him at Motown. Oprah did the famous 1993 Neverland interview. Whitney Houston was a peer and collaborator on USA for Africa.<\/p>\n

\u2717 Off the beat. The answer is Elizabeth Taylor \u2014 at the Soul Train Heritage Award in March 1989, she hailed him as \u201cthe true king of pop, rock and soul.\u201d Diana Ross was his Motown mentor. Oprah Winfrey later did the landmark 1993 living-room interview at Neverland. Whitney Houston sang on \u201cWe Are the World\u201d but didn’t coin the nickname. Taylor and Michael were genuinely close friends.<\/p>\n

REVEAL MY SCORE \u2192<\/p>\n

\n End of Side B \u00b7 Stylus Up
\n Your King of Pop Rank\n <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa4<\/p>\n

\n \/ 8\n <\/p>\n

Moonwalker \u2014 or still warming up the turntable?<\/p>\n

\u2934 PLAY AGAIN<\/p>\n

Per Variety, as of Sunday morning, Michael is projected to end its opening weekend with a cumulative global total of $217 million. While the movie was boosted by the fact that it opened in many international markets two days earlier on April 22, this total marks the best global debut for a live-action English-language movie in 2026, beating out the Ryan Gosling sci-fi smash Project Hail Mary ($140.9 million).<\/p>\n

This total sees 2026’s Michael<\/a> shooting up the global chart to land among the Top 10 releases of the year after just one weekend in theaters. The movie is currently positioned at No. 6, behind only Wuthering Heights ($241.7 million, as of Friday), Hoppers ($368.6 million), Project Hail Mary ($583.6 million), China’s Pegasus 3 ($641 million), and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($781.2 million).<\/p>\n

Over the course of the weekend, it has already rocketed past the complete global totals of numerous major 2026 releases, including Scream 7 ($213.5 million), the animated hit GOAT ($190.5 million), the record-breaking Indian movie Dhurandhar: The Revenge ($152.9 million), A24’s buzzy dark comedy The Drama ($99.9 million), Sam Raimi’s Send Help ($94 million), and the sleeper hit Colleen Hoover romance adaptation Reminders of Him ($87.4 million).<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen how high Michael can climb up the chart by the end of its run. One potential road block is the fact that it will be competing with the upcoming The Devil Wears Prada 2. The hotly anticipated sequel debuts during Michael’s sophomore weekend, which kicks off on May 1. However, both movies could coexist peacefully throughout most of the remainder of May, as the month is relatively free of major releases, with the only direct blockbuster competition coming from Mortal Kombat II on May 8 and The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 22.<\/p>\n

While Michael reviews<\/a> have been largely negative, earning it a 38% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is performing much better with audiences, as indicated by its Verified Hot 97% RT audience score and its CinemaScore of A-. These are roughly in line with the record-breaking smash hit Bohemian Rhapsody, which is currently the highest-grossing music biopic of all time. While that $911 million movie was a major outlier for the genre (it’s still the only music biopic to have grossed more than $300 million), if Michael has a similar trajectory, it could become a billion-dollar smash.<\/p>\n

If it does hit that $1 billion global milestone, Michael will almost certainly cement a place among the Top 10 movies of 2026 by the end of the year. 2026 has not yet had any billion-dollar successes, though The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is on track to hit that benchmark. On the upcoming schedule, there are only a handful of movies (such as Toy Story 5, Minions & Monsters, Moana, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Avengers: Doomsday) that seem to have the potential to break $1 billion, leaving plenty of runway open for the new biopic.<\/p>\n

Enjoy ScreenRant’s box office coverage? Click below to sign up for my weekly box office newsletter (make sure to check “Box Office” in your preferences) and get exclusive analysis, predictions, and more:<\/p>\n

Sign Up<\/a><\/p>\n

\"michael-poster.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApril 24, 2026<\/p>\n

Runtime<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t130 minutes<\/p>\n

Director<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAntoine Fuqua<\/p>\n

Writers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Logan<\/p>\n

Producers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGraham King, John Branca, John McClain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The global debut of Michael is off the wall. The record-shattering Michael Jackson biopic, which debuted on April…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":["post-412044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}