The King of Pop Keeps His Crown ‘Michael’ Breaks Box Office Records in Japan
Few cinematic experiences evoke as much emotional resonance as a Michael Jackson story does in Japan. The nation has nurtured a uniquely passionate relationship with the King of Pop, a bond that has flourished over decades of sold-out tours, record-breaking album sales, and a theatrical culture perfectly suited for such larger-than-life spectacles.
When the eagerly anticipated biopic ‘Michael’ finally premiered in Japanese theaters, expectations soared. However, the reality has been nothing short of remarkable.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua and featuring Jaafar Jackson, ‘Michael’ had already made history before its Japanese debut. The Lionsgate and Universal co-production surpassed ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s’ worldwide gross, becoming the highest-grossing music biopic ever. Industry analysts had long identified Japan as the market that could propel it past the billion-dollar milestone, and they were spot on.
Upon its release in Japan on June 12, ‘Michael’ raked in an estimated $2.3 million on its opening day, marking the second-largest Hollywood opening day of the year in the country, only behind ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2.’ By the end of its first two days, ‘Michael’ had already surpassed the $5 million mark, buoyed by exceptional audience word of mouth. This momentum continued unabated.
In just seven days, the film officially outpaced Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer,’ which had earned $12.2 million during its entire run in Japan, with ‘Michael’ reaching a cumulative total of $12.5 million and still climbing.
As it heads into its third weekend in Japan, the numbers are telling a story that even the most optimistic forecasters might not have anticipated. Box office tracker Luiz Fernando reported that ‘Michael’ earned an estimated $4.3 million over its third Friday-to-Sunday frame in Japan, reflecting a mere 20.4 percent drop from the previous weekend, with Sunday actually seeing a 9 percent increase compared to the prior week.
This brought the cumulative total in Japan to around $25 million, leaving the film just $8 million shy of surpassing ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ as the second-highest-grossing Hollywood release of the year in the country. Analysts now project a final total well above $50 million as a realistic target, largely depending on how ‘Toy Story 5,’ set to debut next week, impacts its momentum at the box office.
The depth of Japan’s connection to Michael Jackson has been frequently cited by industry experts as a key factor driving these impressive figures. Jackson’s 2009 concert documentary ‘This Is It’ grossed $57 million in Japan alone, accounting for 21 percent of that film’s total global earnings.
Before the official theatrical rollout, early IMAX preview screenings in Japan garnered strong audience ratings of 4.2 stars, aligning closely with the legendary launch metrics of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ during its own release in Japan, a film that ultimately grossed $114 million in that market. Those preview figures were a clear indication, and the full run has confirmed it.
Jaafar Jackson’s performance has been widely recognized as a pivotal reason audiences keep returning, with fans dressing up and performing choreographed routines in theaters since the film’s initial April release. This kind of participatory fandom resonates particularly well in Japan, where the theatrical culture often embraces immersive and repeated viewings in ways that few other markets do.
On the global stage, ‘Michael’ is currently at approximately $960 million worldwide and is on the brink of becoming only the second film to cross the billion-dollar mark at the 2026 global box office. John Branca, co-executor of the Jackson estate and longtime attorney, remarked to The Washington Informer that the film represents something truly unprecedented: “Not everyone else’s story, whether real or made up. Michael’s story.”
The current worldwide top five at the 2026 box office includes ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ at just over a billion dollars, followed by ‘Michael’ nearing $960 million, ‘Project Hail Mary’ at $682 million, ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ at $677 million, and ‘Pegasus 3’ rounding out the top five. The fact that ‘Michael’ has managed to distinguish itself from the competition while still expanding into new markets speaks volumes about the level of audience connection that critics, who rated the film at 38 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, never anticipated.
The upcoming release of ‘Toy Story 5’ next weekend makes the coming weeks in Japan genuinely intriguing to observe. Pixar’s franchise has consistently performed well in Japan, and the simultaneous presence of both films in premium screens sets the stage for one of the summer’s most compelling box office battles. Whether ‘Michael’ can retain enough of its audience to surpass the $50 million mark locally while continuing to rise globally remains the central question in the weeks ahead.
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