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Michael hasn't stopped increasing its box office total yet, and that's put it on the verge of claiming a final massive record. Lionsgate's Michael Jackson biopic has been nothing short of a global phenomenon since it hit theaters in April. The interest in seeing the early years of his career on the big screen propelled the Antoine Fuqua-directed feature to break countless records.
With Jaafar Jackson stepping into his uncle's shoes, Michael was an instant box office hit. It made $97 million domestically in its opening weekend, setting a new record for biopics. Its $217 million global debut was also an all-time high for the genre. Michael went on to become Lionsgate's biggest box office earner ever, surpassing The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
From there, the movie beat Bohemian Rhapsody to become the highest-grossing music biopic. It then toppled Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer to go down in history as the biggest biopic overall. Shortly thereafter, Michael passed the $1 billion milestone, but that might not be its final box office accomplishment anymore.
Thanks to sustained interest nearly three months later, Michael needs less than $1 million now to become 2026's highest-grossing movie. That will give it practically every box office record among biopics and a tally untouched by this year's other releases, at least for now.
When Michael Will Become 2026's Highest-Grossing Movie At The Box Office
After 13 weeks in theaters, Michael's box office total sits at $1,010,133,475. The only movie with a greater total is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which holds the top spot on the yearly chart with $1,010,692,491.
That puts Michael only $559,016 behind The Super Mario Galaxy Movie for the year's record-high gross. Lionsgate should be able to confirm the biopic moving ahead of Illumination's animated sequel within the next week, even if the latter adds to its total slightly in the days ahead.
Despite how low the target number is, domestic audiences won't contribute much more. Michael is down to less than 200 theaters and didn't even make $500K over the last week in theaters here. The good news for the movie is that it's continued to play well overseas, where it's picked up nearly another $10 million over the last 10 days.
As long as interest doesn't suddenly die out (which is unlikely since Michael is only available in theaters and on digital), Lionsgate will see its movie move into the top spot within a matter of days. It'll be a final record to top off an incredible theatrical run.
Michael Won't Be 2026's Highest-Grossing Movie For Long
Michael Jackson's biopic may make the King of Pop the year's box office king, but it won't last forever. In fact, Michael could be pushed back to second place within a week of getting the top spot.
This is due to Toy Story 5 surging toward a franchise-record box office total. There's still over $50 million Pixar's animated movie needs to make to pass Michael, but it can make that within a week's time thanks to the title's relevance domestically and internationally.
Toy Story 5 should become a $1 billion movie in the next two weeks at worst, and it could happen sometime this week at best. That gives Michael a narrow window to pass The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and lay claim to the title of being 2026's highest-grossing movie.
Even though Michael won't finish 2026 as the year's biggest box office hit, it will still go down as one of the most successful releases. It made over 5x its reported budget and broke all these records. Lionsgate is even keen on making a sequel, looking to tell the next chapter in Michael Jackson's life and hopefully repeat this level of financial success.
