Michael, the first officially authorized Michael Jackson biopic, has shrugged off bad reviews and a very troubled production to launch with $97 million in US and Canada theaters, according to studio estimates, shattering a record debut for music biopics.
Co-produced by the Jackson estate, Michael has wildly overperformed (estimates were up to $70m) and far surpassed previous biopic top performers like Straight Outta Compton (a $60.1 million debut in 2015) and Bohemian Rhapsody ($51 million in 2018).
International sales were also strong, as Michael collected $120.4 million overseas, to give it a $217.4 million global opening - a new high for a music biopic.
“From the beginning, all of the signals were that something like this was possible,” the Lionsgate chairman, Adam Fogelson, told Associated Press. “We were seeing massive engagement with every conceivable audience segment that you could identify.”
The film has now opened in most of the world – with one notable exception being Japan, where it will open in June.
Michael carries a price tag near $200 million, making it one of the most expensive biopics of all time. Considering its impressive opening weekend, there’s every chance it could surpass Bohemian Rhapsody as the highest-grossing music biopic of all time – having taken a total of $910m at the global box office.
The reviews for Michael have been overwhelmingly negative, with even some members of the Jackson family opposing the film – most notably Michael’s sister Janet Jackson and his daughter, Paris, who called it “fantasy land”.
In our review, we called Michael a “drama-free, formulaic and estate-controlled excuse to sell more albums” and “sanitized to the point of being translucent”.
“Whatever you may think of the man behind the icon and even if you’re generous enough to give this project the benefit of the doubt by foolishly believing that the darker aspects of Jackson’s life could be explored in a planned second chapter (teased at the end with the card “His story continues”), Michael still only functions as an insultingly blatant hagiography. It removes everything from his early life story that could be deemed contentious, including allegations of violent abuse by his father Joe (Colman Domingo), his early encounters with sex, or his growing body dysmorphia linked to the toll celebrity and trauma took on him.”
The film had an unusually troubled production. After shooting was completed, producers realised they had made a costly mistake, as the third act focused on the accusations of Jordan Chandler, then 13 years old, whom Jackson paid $23m to in a 1994 settlement. The terms of that settlement barred the Jackson estate from ever mentioning Chandler in a movie.
A sizeable part of the film was cut and reshot for as much as $50m - all at the estate’s expense. Director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan reworked the movie to conclude in 1988, before any accusations were made.
James Safechuck, an accuser in Dan Reed’s Leaving Neverland documentary (2019), shared a statement of support to child sex abuse survivors amid the release of Michael. Safechuck alleged that he was sexually abused as a child by Jackson.
“The Michael movie is coming out and it’s getting a lot of promotion and there’s billboards and commercials and people praising Michael,” he said in a video shared with Rolling Stone. “It can be triggering for survivors who have their own Michael in their lives, whether it’s the priest who’s close to God or the sports coach who’s just helping the kids or the step-parent who’s supporting the family,” he added. “Our abusers are praised sometimes, even after we come out and tell the truth.”
“I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and that there are other survivors out there that understand what you’re going through and that are there with you. And that if you’re feeling all the feels, then lean into people that are close to you, lean into people that support you and that give you love, and know that you’re not alone,” he continued.
He went on to say: “Telling the truth and telling what happened is a good thing, and that it’s a part of your healing.”
Reed has also questioned why the new biopic failed to acknowledge the abuse allegations against Jackson.
“It says that people don’t care that he was a child molester. Literally, people just don’t care,” he said. “I think a lot of people just love his music and turn a deaf ear. And short of having actual video evidence of Michael Jackson engaged in sexual intercourse with a seven-year-old child, I don’t know what would be sufficient to change these people’s minds.
He added: “How can you tell an authentic story about Michael Jackson without ever mentioning the fact that he was seriously accused of being a child molester?”.
