The King of Pop Rules the World

‘The King of Pop Rules the World’: Michael Biopic Danced Past $700 Million Mark with Japan Release Still to Come

LONDON — The King of Pop is officially ruling the global box office. Michael, the highly publicised and controversial biographical drama tracking the life of Michael Jackson, has moonwalked past the monumental $700 million (£555 million) milestone in its fourth weekend of release.

According to the latest box office data consolidated on Monday 18th May, the Antoine Fuqua-directed epic pulled in an astonishing $57.7 million (£45.7 million) internationally over the three-day weekend. This raises its staggering global cume to $703.8 million, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2026 behind only The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Remarkably, the film has achieved this feat whilst yet to debut in several key Far Eastern territories, most notably Japan—historically one of Jackson's most lucrative and fiercely loyal strongholds.

Surpassing The Passion and Chasing the Crown

By flying past the $700 million mark in just 24 days, Michael has officially overtaken Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ ($612 million) to become the fourth-highest-grossing biographical film of all time. It has also comfortably beaten sci-fi epic Project Hail Mary ($667.8 million) to solidify its podium position for the year.

The film, which features a transformative performance by Jackson’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson, has defied mixed critical reviews and significant pre-release media scrutiny. Audiences have treated the picture less as a traditional film and more as a communal "event cinema" experience, leading to remarkably low weekend-to-weekend drops.

“The international appetite for Jackson’s catalogue is driving this machine,” said London-based box office analyst Mark Sterling. “To secure a 59.8% international box office split this early in the run is unusual for a American-backed musical biopic. The global public is quite simply voting with their wallets.”

The Far East Factor

While the film finally debuted in South Korea over the weekend, industry eyes are firmly fixed on the upcoming rollout across the rest of the Far East.

During his lifetime, Jackson enjoyed an almost religious level of fame in Japan, with his albums consistently achieving multi-platinum status in the country. Distribution partners Universal Pictures International are reportedly planning a "prestige" promotional push across Tokyo and Osaka ahead of its summer release there.

Box office tracking models suggest that a strong performance in Japan could comfortably propel Michael past the $911 million lifetime cume of 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody, which currently stands as the highest-grossing musical biopic in history.

2026 Global Box Office Leaderboard (As of 18 May 2026)

A UK Box Office Juggernaut

On British soil, Michael continues to be a commercial goldmine. Having originally debuted with a record-breaking £11.6 million opening weekend, nearly double that of Bohemian Rhapsody—the film has now accumulated £45.3 million in the UK and Ireland alone.

Despite competition from Disney's The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Universal's horror entry Obsession, Michael reclaimed the number one spot domestically and internationally mid-week, proving that the demand from British cinema-goers shows no signs of slowing down.

The Verdict

Carrying a production budget estimated between $155 million and $200 million, the financial gamble taken by Lionsgate and producer Graham King has paid off exponentially.

With North American tracking projecting a domestic finish near $400 million, and the heavily anticipated Japanese release yet to clear its throat, a final destination north of $1 billion is no longer a optimistic prediction, it is a distinct mathematical probability.