Michael Jackson Biopic Tops Box Office

The film "Michael," chronicling the life of legendary pop star Michael Jackson, has topped the North American box office on its opening day. Entertainment industry publication Variety reported on the 25th that "Michael" grossed $39.5 million (approximately 58.4 billion won) on its first day of release, April 24th (local time), securing an overwhelming first place.

Projected weekend revenue is $90 million to $100 million, positioning it to become the highest-grossing music biopic upon its opening weekend, surpassing "Bohemian Rhapsody," which featured Queen's Freddie Mercury in 2018 ($51 million), and "Straight Outta Compton," centered on the hip-hop group N.W.A. in 2015 ($60 million).

The film had a production budget of $155 million. Notably, the third act, which dealt with the period when Michael Jackson faced child sexual abuse allegations, reportedly incurred additional costs due to extensive reshoots and editing after it was confirmed that a prior agreement stipulated no mention of these accusations in film and television.

Jafar Jackson, Michael Jackson's nephew, plays the lead role, alongside Nia Long, Leon, and Joseph David-Jones.

"Michael" is also a film with sharply divided critical and audience reactions. On the movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score, known as the Tomatometer Audience Score, is a near-perfect 97%, while the Tomatometer Critic Score stands at only 38%.