Lionsgate's Michael Jackson biopic has dethroned one of Marvel's most legendary box office titans. Michael has been drawing huge crowds since its April 24 theatrical debut, steadily climbing past one milestone after another. Most remarkably, over a month into its run, it has now outpaced the very MCU entry that launched an entire cinematic universe.
Despite a well-reported rehoots schedule for the third act, inflating the budget, Michael is going to make Lionsgate a lot of money. Whatever the final investment ended up being, some estimates have it around a $200 million production budget, Michael will still turn a profit, and it's shooting up the all-time Lionsgate box office grossers.
To date, Michael has earned 324 million at the domestic box office, the third-highest-grossing film of the year before The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Project Hail Mary. As it tries to catch those other fellow 2026 releases, it has just passed the original MCU mega-hit.
Nearly 20 years after its release, Iron Man has been surpassed by Michael at the domestic box office. In 2008, Iron Man earned $319 million in North America, with a worldwide gross of $585.7 million, and jump-started what eventually became the MCU, Hollywood's most successful film franchise.
Showing some of the modern success, Amazon Prime Video's Project Hail Mary also eclipsed Iron Man a few weeks ago.
From a global perspective, Michael has long since passed Iron Man, having grossed over $795 million thus far, and it still hasn't been released in Japan.
Michael is primed to be the first music biopic to truly threaten Bohemian Rhapsody's record-setting $911 million worldwide performance since 2018.
When compared to modern MCU films, Michael has been much more of a hit stateside; it's already outgrossed all of Marvel Studios' 2025 releases: Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and even The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The good news for Lionsgate, which continues to try to produce more franchises, despite not owning the rights to many major IPs, Michael is perfectly suited for a sequel. Given the third-act changes, which kept the runtime relatively short, there's a lot more of Jackson's life story and pop star career to tell on the big screen.
Despite some family members not wanting to be involved, the Michael Cinematic Universe might be the more bankable MCU now in the back half of the 2020s.
Starring Michael Jackson's nephew Jaafar Jackson, Michael shows the pop star's rise to global fame, displaying his family history and how he was able to earn such meteoric solo success. Colman Domingo has been praised for his portrayal of Michael's dad, Joseph, acting as the main foil to the superstar's sky-high ambitions.
Michael's Box Office Success: Explained
It's hard to argue the success of Michael, which has had its fair share of controversy, which is nothing new, given the divisive nature of Michael Jackson's personal life.
Similar to his music, the movie has been a work of art that has brought millions of people across the globe together. With its success, passing the likes of Marvel crown jewels like Iron Man, Michael is making history at Lionsgate.
With the potential to be the highest-grossing film in its studio's history, Michael ($795 million) only needs to pass The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 ($848.5 million) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($865 million) to set a new global record.
One of the best examples of how well Michael has persisted in theaters since April is that during its fourth weekend in theaters, it rose back up to the number one spot at the domestic box office.
After opening to a whopping $97 million, the most in musical biopic history, it's no surprise to see how far the film has come. There's still a chance it hits $1 billion globally, though not likely. The business and creative team behind the film would assuredly settle for beating Bohemian Rhapsody at the box office, and potentially even align itself for some Academy Award nominations next year.
Michael 2, or whatever it's ultimately titled, is in development, with all key conversations going "exceptionally well" according to studio executive Adam Fogelson (via Deadline). He also teased many more songs and stories that are left to be told, not even necessarily in chronological order:
"We can go forwards and backwards in telling this story. There are so many other events that happened, even in the time frame of the original movie, that weren’t touched upon."
Notably, 25-30% of Michael 2 is already filmed from leftover, unreleased footage shot during the first production.
LATEST NEWS
