Three weeks after our first look at the King of Pop's record-shattering return to theaters, Michael isn't just holding steady — it's reclaiming the throne.
In a display of staying power that has surprised even the analysts who tracked it, the Michael Jackson biopic has moonwalked back to No. 1 at the domestic box office, earning a strong $26 million in its fourth weekend of release. After two weekends in second place behind The Devil Wears Prada 2, the film reclaimed the top spot over the weekend of May 15–17.
A Remarkable Hold
What makes the fourth-weekend return to first place so notable is the competition it beat. "Michael" towered over several more recent releases, such as "The Devil Wears Prada 2" and "Mortal Kombat II," as well as newcomers like the Focus Features horror film "Obsession," Amazon MGM's revenge thriller "Is God Is," and Black Bear's action adventure "In the Grey." Newcomer Obsession opened to a respectable $16 million, but it wasn't enough to dethrone a film that had been in release for nearly a month.
The trajectory has been remarkable from the start. The film opened on April 24, 2026, to a record-shattering $97.2 million domestically and approximately $217–218 million globally, then held with surprising strength: its second weekend brought in $54.5 million domestically, a drop of just 44%. It then crossed the $500 million worldwide threshold on May 9, faster than any music biopic in history.
Past $700 Million Globally
The headline figure has moved considerably since our last update. As of the morning of May 17, "Michael" has surpassed $700 million globally, while "The Devil Wears Prada 2" nears the $550 million milestone. That's a substantial leap from the roughly $577 million worldwide total the film carried just a week earlier, and the $621.9 million it had reached by mid-week.
For context on where this places the film historically: as of May 16, Michael had grossed $263.7 million in the US and Canada and $358.3 million in other territories, and it now stands as the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2026 and the fourth-highest-grossing biographical film of all time. It has already become the highest-grossing music biopic domestically of all time, officially surpassing "Bohemian Rhapsody's" domestic total of $216.7 million, and it passed "Elvis," which finished its run with approximately $289 million worldwide.
The remaining benchmark is the genre's all-time king. Bohemian Rhapsody's cumulative global haul of roughly $903.6 million remains the all-time record for a music biopic, though Michael's trajectory — particularly its stronger domestic hold — has industry observers tracking whether it can approach that mark. With the film still yet to open in several markets, including Japan, where Jackson's fanbase has historically been among his most devoted, the ceiling may not yet be in sight.
Profitability No Longer in Question
Recall that the central financial anxiety around Michael was its enormous price tag — a budget that ballooned through reshoots to a reported $155–200 million, making it one of the most expensive biopics of all time. Early estimates suggested the film might need to gross as high as $500 million just to break even. That concern has evaporated. The film blew past that figure more than a week ago and is now generating a return of three times its production costs or more, making it Lionsgate's biggest hit in more than a decade, since 2015's "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2".
The Streaming Halo Effect
One angle worth adding to the original story: the film's success has rippled far beyond ticket sales. According to Luminate, Jackson's catalog streams nearly doubled in the days following the film's wide release, with streams jumping 95% when comparing the opening weekend to the weekend prior. The effect was just as visible on streaming platforms — on Spotify, Jackson's monthly listener count jumped by 5 million in the week after release, from around 68 million to 73 million, and for one tracking week, he had 14 songs simultaneously charting on Spotify's weekly global chart, with "Billie Jean" climbing to No. 3 globally.
The Verdict, Revisited
Nothing about the past three weeks has resolved the critical debate we laid out originally — the film remains divided among critics, holding a 39% score on Rotten Tomatoes, while connecting with audiences and earning a CinemaScore of A-. The omissions critics flagged are still omissions. But the commercial verdict is now beyond dispute. A film many predicted couldn't recoup its budget has crossed $700 million worldwide, returned to No. 1 in its fourth weekend, and reignited a global streaming surge for an artist who died nearly two decades ago.
The conversation about what Michael leaves unsaid will continue. But as a box office phenomenon, the King of Pop has, once again, proven untouchable — and with a potential sequel that could cover the harder chapters, this story is far from over.
Michael is now playing in theaters and IMAX nationwide.
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