Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” has smashed box office records worldwide, scoring the highest opening weekend ever for a biopic.
Queen musical “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which launched with $124 million in 2018 (starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury), previously held the box office record for a musical biopic.
Worldwide, “Michael” has garnered an impressive $217 million with $97 million domestically in the US and Canada, shattering the record for the biggest biopic opening of all time.
The film, a highly authorised portrayal of the “King of Pop”, was co-produced by the Jackson estate and stars his nephew Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson.
Controversy and reception
According to Associated Press (AP), the biopic had an unusually tumultuous anticipated reception as critics slammed the film for glossing over some of Michael Jackson’s less convenient aspects of his life such as his child sexual abuse allegations.
Some Jackson family members opposed the film as “The King of Pop”’s sister Janet Jackson was uninvolved and doesn’t appear in it, while Jackson’s daughter, Paris, called it “fantasy land”.
It received a disappointing 38% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics. But audiences were more enthusiastic as the film earned an “A-” on CinemaScore.
“The audience spoke loud and clear,” said Adam Fogelson, Lionsgate chairman, according to AP.
“The portion of Michael’s life that this story tells couldn’t have gotten into those allegations because the allegations themselves hadn’t happened in the period this movie existed.
“I think the audience is judging it on those terms. We’ll see what happens as we move into the possibility of subsequent films.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Film news: DC pivots to body horror with ‘Clayface’
A sequel in the works?
Plans for “Michael” were first announced in 2022, three years after the release of “Leaving Neverland”, the 2019 documentary about Jackson’s alleged sexual abuse of children.
“Leaving Neverland” director, Dan Reed, recently told the Guardian: “It kind of fills me with horror, the degree to which everyone can turn a blind eye to the fact that this guy was a bit of a monster.”
Looking ahead, director Antoine Fuqua has said he would like to direct the sequel to the biopic, telling Deadline: “It would kill me if somebody else did it.”
READ NEXT: ‘Dancing with the Stars’ casts Maura Higgins and Ciara Miller in Season 35
Angelica N. Hall 
Carmela Calling 
Wendellyn Mateo