‘Michael’ Rocks Box Office With Record-Setting $97 Million Debut

Apr 26, 2026 7:54am PT ‘Michael’ Rocks Box Office With Record-Setting $97 Million Debut

By Rebecca Rubin

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Rebecca Rubin

Senior Film and Media Reporter

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• Box Office: ‘Michael’ Bows to $217 Million Globally, ‘Mario’ Surpasses $800 Million, ‘Project Hail Mary’ Rockets Past $600 Million 30 minutes ago
• ‘Michael’ Rocks Box Office With Record-Setting $97 Million Debut 3 hours ago
• Box Office: ‘Michael’ Moonwalks to $12.6 Million in Previews, Beating ‘Project Hail Mary’ for Biggest of the Year 2 days ago

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There’s a new box office king.

“Michael,” a biopic from Lionsgate about the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, arrived in theaters as an instant sensation with $97 million domestically and $217 million globally in its first weekend of release. These ticket sales rank as the best start of all time for a biopic, smashing the record set by 2015’s “Straight Outta Compton” ($60 million). And they tower above 2018’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which opened to $51 million before obliterating expectations with $910 million worldwide by the end of its run. “Michael” also notched the second-biggest debut of the year behind April’s sequel “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($131 million).

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