Photo Credit: Lionsgate

Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson film is officially the highest-grossing biopic of all time, surpassing Oppenheimer after taking $977 million at the worldwide box office.

The King of Pop was already crowned the biggest musical biopic of all time after surpassing 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Now, Lionsgate’s Michael is officially the highest-grossing biopic of any genre, surpassing Christopher Nolan’s 2023 film Oppenheimer after securing $977 million at the worldwide box office.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Michael follows the late singer’s early career as a child star to becoming the biggest pop star of the era. Michael Jackson’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson plays the titular role, with Colman Domingo and Nia Long portraying his parents.

In April, Michael raked in $217 million in its debut week, rapidly overtaking previous music biopics, including 2015’s Straight Outta Compton and 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody. It has also become Lionsgate’s most successful film, surpassing 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer secured $975 million globally—an impressive total for an R-rated historical drama clocking in at nearly three hours long. Now, Michael surpassing Oppenheimer is all the more impressive given that the Nolan film benefitted heavily from the viral “Barbenheimer” trend, in which audiences flocked to see both Barbie and Oppenheimer that summer.

Distributed by Lionsgate in the U.S. and Universal overseas, Michael has grossed $607.2 million internationally and $370.2 million domestically since April.

While film critics have panned the biopic for its “sanitized” look at Jackson’s life, there’s a reason for that. The film doesn’t include the child sexual abuse allegations that were leveled against the artist later in his career, since the first of those was not permitted to be referenced in film or television per an agreement with the Jackson estate.

However, a sequel is reportedly in the works, which will undoubtedly cover the controversies that plagued Michael’s later years. A good portion of it has already been filmed, given that the studio was forced to reshoot its final act due to the previously mentioned agreement between a Jackson accuser and his estate.