The triumphant success of the biopic MICHAEL in its opening weekend in theatres is the culmination of a prolonged and, at times, troubled production process. The Wrap published an extensive detailing of the film’s journey to the big screen. Originally scheduled to be released last April, a now infamous oversight by Michael Jackson’s estate caused MICHAEL’s third act to be reshot entirely, resulting in a one-year delay in its completion and adding $15 million to its budget. Jackson was already a controversial figure to be the subject of a biopic, and the additional controversy over the creative control exercised by the Jackson estate did not keep audiences at home. Its $97.0M opening weekend is the highest ever for a musical biopic.
MICHAEL shows the box office potential of the genre, while interest has waned in certain types of movies that were once sure bets, such as superhero films and comedies. Anxious studio heads are looking for their replacements to draw audiences and fill seats. While THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE and A MINECRAFT MOVIE have demonstrated the mass appeal for movies based on video game characters, musical biopics have also shown their potential. The 2018 Freddie Mercury biopic BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY was a gigantic success, grossing over $200 million domestically and nearly $700 million worldwide. In the years following, Baz Luhrmann’s ELVIS, James Mangold’s A COMPLETE UNKNOWN about Bob Dylan, Dexter Fletcher’s ROCKETMAN about Elton John and BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE have also performed well, showing a healthy appetite for the musical biopic genre.
