The King of Pop movie tracking toward $100 million domestically and $200 million worldwide despite the controversy around the film

Despite the controversy surrounding its release, Michael is on pace to break the box office record for a musical biopic in its opening week.

According to Lionsgate, which distributed the film, the Michael Jackson biopic is on track to score between $90 million to $100 million domestically in its first week of release, thanks in part to $12 million alone from pre-weekend early screenings and about $39.5 million on its opening day of release Friday.

Even if Michael hits the low end of the estimates, the film will still easily surpass Straight Outta Compton for the highest-grossing opening weekend for a musical biopic.

“This record-breaking performance is a testament to the incredible filmmaking team of producer Graham King and director Antoine Fuqua, an amazing cast led by Jaafar Jackson’s singular performance, our world-class partners at Universal, the cooperation and support of the Michael Jackson Estate, and our tireless and exceptionally talented Lionsgate team,” Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Adam Fogelson said in a statement.  “Above all, it reflects the tremendous outpouring of love and affection from moviegoers around the world, underscoring the strength and vitality of the theatrical box office.  If you give audiences what they want, they will come.”

Worldwide, Michael is pacing to make approximately $200 million from global box office in its opening weekend. According to Billboard, that total would already propel Michael into the Top 5 for highest-grossing musical biopics of all time, and the King of Pop biopic would likely surpass Straight Outta Compton (Number Three with $201 million total) and Elvis (Number Two with $288 million) in the coming days.

However, Michael has a huge hill to climb in order to beat Bohemian Rhapsody as the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time; the Queen movie raked in $910 million worldwide during its theatrical run while also earning its star Rami Malek a Best Actor Oscar.

“Clearly with this movie, a lot more young people are going to discover Michael Jackson and they will come away from this picture probably with the image that he was a very talented performer who was rather nice to children and that is a travesty of the truth,” Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed told Rolling Stone upon Michael’s release. 

“Young people are familiar with the trope of the movie star or pop star whose private life is unsavory. They’re not stupid or naïve. But it’s a testament to the power of the estate and its heft in Hollywood, because there’s this reality distortion field where, ‘It’s Michael fucking Jackson. What are you talking about? None of your child-abuse stuff. Fuck that. It’s Michael fucking Jackson.’ This is pure money. It’s pure influence. It’s pure fucking Hollywood glory. And you look at these people and go, ‘Don’t you have a spark of… Do you have children? Have you ever met any children?’”