Nobody expected a Michael Jackson biopic to out-earn Nintendo. Yet somewhere between Monday night and Tuesday morning this week, that’s exactly what happened.
Lionsgate and Universal’s “Michael” has officially surpassed “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” to become the single highest-grossing theatrical release of 2026 worldwide, according to box office trackers who confirmed the shift as the film’s Japan and Russia holds pushed its global tally past the animated sequel’s total. It’s the latest, and biggest, milestone in a run that industry analysts didn’t see coming even a few months ago.
From Modest Tracking to Box Office History
“Michael” opened domestically on April 24, 2026, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jaafar Jackson — the singer’s real-life nephew — in his acting debut as Michael Jackson. Colman Domingo and Nia Long play his parents, Joe and Katherine Jackson, and Graham King produced.
Pre-release tracking pegged the domestic opening in the $65–75 million range. The film blew past that, opening to roughly $97 million domestically across fewer than 4,000 theaters and about $217–218 million worldwide, a record opening for a musical biopic that comfortably beat “Straight Outta Compton’s” $60.2 million debut in 2015.
The Numbers Behind the Milestones
| Milestone | Figure / Detail |
|---|---|
| Domestic release date | April 24, 2026 |
| Director | Antoine Fuqua |
| Lead actor | Jaafar Jackson (feature debut) |
| Producer | Graham King |
| Opening weekend (domestic) | ~$97 million |
| Opening weekend (worldwide) | ~$217–218 million |
| Domestic total (as of mid-July) | ~$371.8 million |
| International total | ~$629.8 million |
| Worldwide total | Past $1 billion, ~$1.02 billion+ |
| Biopic record surpassed | Oppenheimer, $975.8 million (all-time biopic) |
| Music biopic record surpassed | Bohemian Rhapsody, $911 million |
| 2026 record surpassed | The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, ~$1.01–1.015 billion |
| Lionsgate milestone | Studio’s first-ever $1 billion release, past Hunger Games: Catching Fire’s $865.2 million |
The film crossed $1 billion after twelve weekends in release, becoming only the second 2026 release to hit that benchmark after “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” and the first film in Lionsgate’s history to do so. Along the way, it passed “The Passion of the Christ” as the highest-grossing biopic domestically, and pushed by “The Lion King’s” $979 million lifetime haul and “The Dark Knight’s” worldwide total on its way to the top.
A Sanitized Story, A Massive Audience
Reviews have been mixed to negative, with critics pointing to the film’s decision to skip the child sexual abuse allegations that shadowed the back half of Jackson’s career. That choice let Lionsgate market “Michael” around its crowd-pleasing elements instead — note-perfect recreations of Jackson’s concert performances and music videos — and audiences responded by returning to theaters multiple times over a summer that could easily have moved on to the next release.
Director Antoine Fuqua called crossing the billion-dollar mark “a deeply humbling moment” in a statement tied to the milestone, one built, he said, on the work of the film’s producers, cast and crew.
Why the Race With Mario Mattered
For weeks, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” looked like a lock to finish 2026 as the year’s top earner, backed by decades of built-in brand loyalty and a nine-weekend run to $1 billion in early June. “Michael” closed the gap the harder way — through sustained weekly holds rather than a single blowout opening — until the two films were separated by less than $8 million heading into the final stretch.
That “Michael,” a drama with no franchise scaffolding and no built-in fandom the size of Nintendo’s, out-earned an animated tentpole says as much about Jackson’s continued pull with global audiences as it does about the film itself. Lionsgate is reportedly already eyeing a follow-up covering the chapters of Jackson’s life this film leaves out.
