Photo Credit: Lionsgate
The Michael Jackson biopic continues to make film history with an epic showing in Japan that could finally push it over the billion-dollar threshold.
Michael, Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by John Logan, has already had an epic run at the domestic box office and abroad. It’s already made music biopic history, surpassing Bohemian Rhapsody as the highest-grossing music biopic of all time. Now, as it finally gets a showing in Japan, the movie is about to moonwalk to even greater heights.
With a worldwide gross as of last week of over $911.9 million, the film’s run in Japan could finally push Michael over the billion-dollar threshold. Doing so would make it only the second film to reach a billion at the 2026 global box office, after Universal’s Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Lionsgate partnered with distributor Kino for the Japanese release. The film opened to approximately $2.3 million on its first Friday in Japan, marking the second largest Hollywood opening day of the year there, behind only The Devil Wears Prada 2.
But by its fourth day in Japan, Michael had added an estimated $1.6 million—just a 33% drop from the end of the weekend, pushing its total in the country to around $9 million. These figures align closely with the run Bohemian Rhapsody had during its own launch in Japan, hinting at the film’s staying power in the region.
Japan has a history of loving Michael Jackson-related projects. When the concert film This Is It was released in 2011, Japan contributed $57 million to its $196 million international gross. For Michael, analysts projected a three-day opening weekend of between $6.5 million and $8 million, comfortably surpassing both Bohemian Rhapsody and This Is It.
Those are turning out to be conservative estimates, with analysts now optimistic that Japan alone could be enough to carry Michael into the billion-dollar club.
