{"id":24079,"date":"2026-06-15T12:27:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T12:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/15\/michael-becomes-highest-grossing-music-biopic-in-history-overtaking-bohemian-rhapsody-with-911m-at-global-box-office-music-business-worldwide\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T12:27:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T12:27:56","slug":"michael-becomes-highest-grossing-music-biopic-in-history-overtaking-bohemian-rhapsody-with-911m-at-global-box-office-music-business-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/15\/michael-becomes-highest-grossing-music-biopic-in-history-overtaking-bohemian-rhapsody-with-911m-at-global-box-office-music-business-worldwide\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Michael\u2019 becomes highest-grossing music biopic in history \u2013 overtaking \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody\u2019 with $911M+ at global box office – Music Business Worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael<\/em>, the Michael Jackson<\/strong> biopic, is now the highest-grossing music biopic in history, having grossed $911.9 million<\/strong> at the global box office to overtake Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em>.
Lionsgate<\/strong> confirmed the figure to Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a>.
That total comprises $358.6 million<\/strong> domestically and $553.3 million<\/strong> from international markets and, as the studio noted, it does not yet include the film’s most recent weekend, meaning the record is still climbing.
It edges Michael<\/em> past the $910.8 million<\/strong> lifetime worldwide gross<\/a> of Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em>, the 2018<\/strong> Freddie Mercury<\/strong> and Queen<\/strong> biopic that won star Rami Malek<\/strong> a Best Actor Oscar.
The margin at the point of overtake was slim, barely $1 million, but it widened fast: by Sunday (June 14), Michael’s worldwide haul had reached<\/a> approximately $932.2 million.
The scale of that number becomes clearer in context. Only Michael<\/em> and Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em> have taken the music-biopic genre anywhere near the $900 million<\/strong> mark.
Every other title sits far below. Box Office Mojo<\/strong> figures put Elvis<\/em> (2022<\/strong>) a distant third at $288.7 million<\/strong>, followed by Straight Outta Compton<\/em> (2015<\/strong>) at $202.2 million<\/strong>, Rocketman<\/em> (2019<\/strong>) at roughly $195 million<\/strong><\/a>, Bob Marley: One Love<\/em> (2024<\/strong>) at $180.8 million<\/strong>, and the Bob Dylan<\/strong> film A Complete Unknown<\/em> (2024<\/strong>) at $140 million<\/strong>.
No music biopic outside the top two has crossed $300 million<\/strong>.
For the music industry, the box-office milestone is only part of the story. The film has driven a sharp, sustained surge in Michael Jackson<\/strong>‘s streaming since it opened.
When MBW<\/strong> reported the film passing $500 million<\/strong><\/a>, Luminate<\/a><\/strong> data showed Jackson’s catalog streams jumping 95%<\/strong> on its opening weekend versus the weekend before, his Spotify<\/a><\/strong> monthly listeners climbing by 5 million<\/strong> (from around 68 million<\/strong> to 73 million<\/strong>), and 14<\/strong> of his songs charting simultaneously on Spotify’s global weekly chart, led by Billie Jean<\/em> at No. 3<\/strong>. Thriller<\/em> also returned to the Billboard<\/a><\/strong> 200’s top 10<\/strong>.
That windfall matters commercially to Sony Music Group<\/a><\/strong>. In a deal that closed in late 2023<\/strong> and was cleared by a California appeals court in August 2024<\/strong><\/a>, Sony Music<\/a><\/strong> acquired a 50%<\/strong> stake in Jackson’s publishing and recorded-masters catalog, a transaction that valued his music rights at around $1.5 billion<\/strong>, with Sony<\/a> reported to have paid in the region of $750 million<\/strong> for its half.
The catalog includes his Mijac publishing company, home to Jackson’s own compositions plus works by Sly & the Family Stone<\/strong>, Curtis Mayfield<\/strong> and Ray Charles<\/strong>.
There is an added twist for Sony<\/strong>. The company also controls Queen<\/strong>‘s catalog, acquired in a deal reportedly valued<\/a> at around \u00a31 billion<\/strong> ($1.27 billion<\/strong>). That means both the film Michael<\/em> just dethroned, Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em>,\u00a0which is built on Queen’s music, and\u00a0Michael<\/em> itself now drive<\/span>\u00a0streaming activity into Sony<\/strong>-owned catalogs.
The Jackson acquisition was one of a run of blockbuster catalog deals by Sony Music Group<\/strong> under chairman Rob Stringer<\/a><\/strong> that have cumulatively pushed the company’s M&A spending past $6 billion<\/strong> over the past decade<\/a>, per MBW’s estimate.
Michael<\/em> was directed by Antoine Fuqua<\/strong> and written by John Logan<\/strong>, with Jaafar Jackson,<\/strong> Jackson’s nephew, making his screen debut in the title role. It was produced by Graham King<\/strong>, who also produced Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em>, alongside the estate’s co-executors John Branca<\/strong> and John McClain<\/strong>. Lionsgate<\/strong> distributed the film in the US, with Universal<\/a> Pictures<\/strong> handling international markets.
The result rewrites several record books. Michael<\/em> is now Lionsgate<\/strong>‘s highest-grossing theatrical release ever. Its $218.8 million<\/strong> global opening was the biggest debut for a music biopic in history, while its $97.2 million<\/strong> domestic bow beat the prior genre record: Straight Outta Compton<\/em>‘s $60.2 million<\/strong> in 2015<\/strong>.
The film also ranks as the second-biggest release of 2026<\/strong> worldwide and the second-highest-grossing biopic of any kind, trailing only Oppenheimer<\/em> (around $975.8 million<\/strong>). For Graham King<\/strong>, it means surpassing his own genre record.
The film only opened in Japan,<\/strong>\u00a0long one of Jackson’s strongest markets, on June 12<\/strong>, leaving room for the total to grow further. With momentum still building, Michael<\/em> could yet become only the second film of 2026<\/strong> to cross $1 billion<\/strong> worldwide.Music Business Worldwide<\/span>
Stay on top of the real stories shaping the music industry<\/b>: Join over 60,000 industry professionals who rely on MBW’s<\/i> FREE daily newsletter and alert emails for essential insights and breaking news.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic, is now the highest-grossing music biopic in history, having grossed $911.9 million at the global box office to overtake Bohemian Rhapsody.Lionsgate confirmed the figure to Rolling Stone.That total comprises $358.6 million domestically and $553.3 million from international markets and, as the studio noted, it does not yet include the film’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}