The Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" opened to $217 million at the worldwide box office in its debut weekend, topping the North American charts as the weekend's only major new release. The film collected $97 million from domestic theaters and $120.4 million from international markets.

The opening surpassed the $180.4 million worldwide debut of "Oppenheimer" in 2023 and the $124 million global opening of "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 2018. Domestically, the $97 million figure exceeded the openings of "Oppenheimer" at $82 million in 2023, "Straight Outta Compton" at $60.2 million in 2015 and "Bohemian Rhapsody" at $51 million in 2018. "Bohemian Rhapsody" remains the highest-grossing music biopic of all time with $910 million globally, while "Oppenheimer" holds the overall biopic record at $975 million.

"Michael" earned $12.6 million in North American previews, the biggest preview haul of the year, including $3.8 million from early access screenings on Wednesday. The film debuted Wednesday in several foreign territories and earned $18.5 million on its international opening day. It collected $39.5 million on its domestic opening day from 3,955 theaters.

Lionsgate chairman Adam Fogelson said, "From the beginning, all of the signals were that something like this was possible. We were seeing massive engagement with every conceivable audience segment that you could identify." Fogelson also said, "A third film after that is not inconceivable."

Production costs approached $200 million, including reshoots costing as much as $50 million carried out at the Jackson estate's expense. The film originally cost $155 million to produce, with expenses including music rights and recreations of concert performances. Its release was delayed by a year due to changes made after reshoots.

Producers discovered after shooting that a clause in a 1994 settlement with Jordan Chandler, who received $23 million from Jackson, barred depiction or mention of him in film or television. Director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan reworked the movie to conclude in 1988, before any accusations were made, with dramatic tension centered on Michael Jackson's relationship with his father Joe Jackson and the Jackson 5. Jackson is portrayed by his nephew Jaafar Jackson, while Colman Domingo and Nia Long play Joe and Katherine Jackson.

Lionsgate sold international distribution rights to Universal. A sequel is in development, and roughly 30% of the material cut from "Michael" could be reconstituted for follow-up films.

"It would kill me if somebody else did it," Fuqua said about directing the sequel. Speaking about cut footage, he said, "We went through the Jordan allegations we couldn't use. We went farther than that. Maybe a year or two after that (1995) when things turned against Michael."

Paris Jackson, who was uninvolved in the production, called the film "fantasy land." On Rotten Tomatoes, "Michael" holds a 38% critics score and a 97% audience score.