Weekend Box Office: Michael Thrills with Biggest Opening Ever for Musical Biopic
Back in 2022, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll had probably the most profitable music biopics ever. This yr, the King of Pop is poised to have probably the most profitable one ever, no less than on the home facet. Both actually had their points (as movies and as males), however now, audiences are dancing within the aisles and critics have been receiving their very own criticism for not having the identical opinion as followers. Let’s check out all of the numbers and see what all of the fuss is about.
King of the Crop: Michael Thrills with Biggest Opening Ever for Musical Biopic
The greatest openers ever for musician biopics have included Straight Outta Compton ($60.2 million), Bohemian Rhapsody ($51.0 million) and Elvis ($31.2 million). Antoine Fuqua’s Michael simply blew them out of the water with $97 million; the eighth-highest April opening ever and Lionsgate’s sixth greatest. (Four of their high 5 are the Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games movies and the fifth is the ultimate twilight.) But not solely is that a greater quantity than the mixed begins of the latest Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebodyand Back to Black, Michael practically doubled these three movies collectively completely ($52.5 million). Granted, one other space the place this movie has a better quantity than all these movies mixed is the finances.
Originally reported at a price of $150 million, that quantity went up no less than one other $15-20 million (some reviews are as excessive as $200 million whole) with the reshoots that compelled the manufacturing to take away any point out of the sexual accusations and authorized points that adopted Michael Jackson after the movie, in its present incarnation, ends. That is loads using on the worldwide success of the movie. Producer Graham King actually banked that with Bohemian Rhapsodywhich grossed over $687 million simply on the worldwide stage; home tallies put it over $903 million whole. So far, Michael is as much as $217 million worldwide, and it could have to get as excessive as $500 million simply to interrupt even. After Rhapsodythe second-highest grossing music biopic throughout the globe continues to be Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis with $288 million for the time being. Now we preserve our eyes on the King of Pop to see if his future is unhealthy, a thriller, and even off the wall.
Tales of the highest 10: Mario and Project Hail Mary Continue to Fly High
Mario Bros.the unique online game, got here out roughly 4 months after the discharge of Jackson’s album, Thriller. 43 years later The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is knocked out of its three-week perch at No. 1 by the biopic. These brothers are doing simply tremendous, although, with $21.2 million in weekend 4 to carry their 26-day whole to $386.4 million. That is barely forward of final yr’s Minecraft Moviewhich was at $382.5 million after a $22.7 million fourth-go. That is retaining its home estimate within the $425-435 million vary. Worldwide, the movie has surpassed $831 million. Add one other $40-50 million to this point, and it is going to take one other $120+ million on the worldwide facet for it to change into the primary billion greenback movie of the yr.
Project Hail Mary continues to place up notable numbers. After a mere 15% drop final week and changing into simply the twelfth movie to place up $20+ million in a fifth weekend, the Lord/Miller movie fell 35.7% right down to a nonetheless strong $13.2 million. That put it over $300 million home, and it’s outpacing each 2019’s Aladdin and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. Each of these movies grossed simply over $10 million of their sixth weekends and completed with $355.5 million and $337.1 million, respectively. Hail Mary possible falls someplace in between, but it surely might get nearer to Aladdinpossibly even surpass it if its drops get again to the 20% area. Globally the movie is over $613 million, the second to already hit that milestone this yr. Only eight Hollywood releases did so in 2025.
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy fell only one place this week however took a a lot larger tumble behind the greenback indicators, falling 58.6% to $5.6 million. That places its 10-day whole at $23.4 million. Looking at different April horror releases, Mike Flanagan’s Oculus lands simply behind it at $21.1 million after a $5.1 million second weekend, whereas Unfriended leads it by just a bit with $25 million after a $6.1 million second weekend. So a ultimate home gross round $30 million appears to be within the playing cards for The Mummy. The movie is already over $65 million worldwide and is a hit for Warner Bros. and the Jason Blum/James Wan partnership.
A24’s launch of The Drama made $2.6 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its whole to $44.8 million to move Hereditary on their all-time chart. If you are wanting for one other statistic, how about it being their fifth-best fourth weekend of large launch ever? A24 additionally expanded Mother Mary wider this weekend, and it was sufficient to get it into the highest 10. The psychological horror movie from David Lowery with Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel grossed $1.25 million for a complete of $1.49 million, only one week earlier than one other fashion-centric Hathaway movie is poised to guide the field workplace.
For the second time this month, I assumed IFC might get headlines for having their greatest opening ever. A pair weeks in the past, Faces of Death opened to $1.64 million, which ended up being their fourth greatest ever. This week, Over Your Dead BodyJorma Taccone’s remake of Tommy Wirkola’s 2021 movie The Trip, now with Jason Segel and Samara Weaving because the spouses seeking to off each other, opened to only much less with $1.5 million, rating it sixth on their all-time opener checklist after Dangerous Animals final June started with $1.56 million. Neither had been in a position to greatest their 2024 launch of Late Night with the Devil with David Dastmalchian, which began with $2.83 million. Magnolia pulled off their greatest opening of all-time final week with Bob Odenkirk in Ben Wheatley’s Normal ($2.55 million) which fell out of the highest 10 shortly this week. Congrats to the indies taking their shot with releases in over 1,500 theaters. What’s it going to take for them to place extra butts in these theaters, although?
Speaking of indies, Roadside Attractions simply had its highest-grossing movie for the reason that pandemic in A Great Awakeningnow with over $7.5 million. Its their highest-grossing movie since 2019’s Oscar-winning Judy made virtually $24 million. This week they simply missed the highest 10 with David MacKenzie’s Fuze starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, and Sam Worthington. It opened to $1.01 million in 1,164 theaters for their seventh-biggest launch ever. (A Great Awakening opened in 1,289 theaters.) Last yr’s Kiss of the Spider Woman musical redux with Jennifer Lopez was their third-biggest ever in 1,331 theaters, and it opened to only $891,046 and grossed a complete of $1.62 million. They missed out, due to IndieFilms’ launch of American Youngboythe live performance movie that includes NBA Youngboy, which ended up making $1.19 million in 583 theaters.
Disney/Pixar’s Hoppers is the primary movie of 2026 to have a keep within the high 10 for eight straight weeks. GOAT fell out with seven, however Hoppers hangs in there with $1.9 million to carry its home whole to $164.1 million and over $370 million globally, making it the third-highest grossing Hollywood movie of the yr to this point. You, Me & Tuscany added $1.5 million in its third weekend to carry its whole to $17.6 million. Kat Coiro’s earlier movie, the day-and-date theatrical/streaming launch of Marry Me with Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson, had made $20.2 million in its first 17 days after a $1.88 million third weekend.
In different information, Sony Classics’ BAFTA-winning I Swear grossed $640,000 in 645 theaters.Vertical Entertainment’s launch of Rupert Wyatt’s Desert Warrior with Anthony Mackie, which started filming in 2021, grossed $472,111 in 1,010 theaters. The rub is the movie reportedly price $150 million with the Saudi Arabian movie trade. Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers fell to 295 theaters this weekend, and the Neon launch grossed $332,850 to carry its whole to $1.3 million. Finally, twentieth Century Studios’ re-release of Fight Club made $219,000 over the weekend and has made $804,789 since Wednesday.
On the Vine: Will Miranda Priestly Steal Michael’s Thunder?
The summer season film season kicks off subsequent week, not with the standard massive finances, high-concept VFX Marvel movie, however nonetheless a Disney movie, now that they management twentieth Century Studios. Expect some massive numbers for The Devil Wears Prada 2 with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci all returning. Neon has the horror movie Hokum with Adam Scott, from the director of Odditywhich has a stable 97% with critics after its premiere at SXSW. Also look for Andy Serkis’ animated adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm from Angel Studios.
Full List of Box Office Results: April 24-26, 2026
- Michael – $97.0 million ($97.0 million whole)
- The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – $21.2 million ($386.4 million whole)
- Project Hail Mary – $13.2 million ($305.4 million whole)
- Lee Cronin’s The Mummy – $5.6 million ($23.4 million whole)
- The Drama – $2.6 million ($44.8 million whole)
- Hoppers – $1.9 million ($164.1 million whole)
- You, Me & Tuscany – $1.5 million ($17.6 million whole)
- Over Your Dead Body – $1.43 million ($1.43 million whole)
- Mother Mary – $1.25 million ($1.49 million whole)
- American Youngboy – $1.19 million ($1.19 million whole)
Erik Childress might be heard every week evaluating field workplace on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail picture by ©Lionsgate
