The Michael Jackson biopic "Michael", starring Jaafar Jackson, has opened strong in Indian movies theatres and worldwide screens. The opening two-day collection (including paid previews) brought in Rs 10 crore in net earnings, beating the lifetime India gross of another musical biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Rs 7 crore) and "Elvis" (7.5 crore). It has currently the biggest opening for a Hollywood film in India this year.
The film saw high engagement in South India, with significant contributions from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the Telugu states. It performed better than new Bollywood releases and held its own against other running films.
The film has already set records globally, achieving the biggest opening ever for a musical biopic, surpassing "Straight Outta Compton" ($60.2M), and "Bohemian Rhapsody" ($51M).
While "Bohemian Rhapsody" was a massive $910M global blockbuster, "Michael" is trending higher on its opening weekend and is expected to at least break the opening record for the genre.
The global earnings for "Michael" is projected at approximately $200 million (and counting).
In North America, the opening weekend projections are between $90 million and $100 million. In the U.S., its opening-day collection of around $39.5 million surpassed the opening-day record of "Oppenheimer", marking the largest opening day of any film in 2026.
It has already pulled in over $30 million across various international markets, including the UK, France, Germany, and Australia.
In India, the film's success is attributed to the strong fanbase for the King of Pop, especially in metro locations and a high level of interest in Michael Jackson’s life, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.
