The wide distance between movie critics and Normal People was again on display with the early success of Michael, director Antoine Fuqua’s jukebox biopic about the late King of Pop.
Over at Rotten Tomatoes, Michael is a critical flop with a 40 percent rotten rating. The viewer (Normal People) rating, however, is 96 percent fresh.
Already, Michael is breaking box office records and is expected to do so throughout this, its debut weekend.
What’s known as the Thursday night preview saw Michael gross somewhere between $12.5 to $13.5 million. Those are blockbuster numbers. For comparison, Avatar Fire & Ash, Toy Story 4, Project Hail Mary, and Dune: Part Two all opened with a $12 million Thursday preview. Twisters, A Minecraft Movie, Oppenheimer, and the live-action How To Train Your Dragon remake opened closer to an $11 million on Thursday.
This puts Michael on track to easily beat the record for a musical biopic’s opening weekend. The current record-holder is 2015’s Straight Outta Compton, which opened to $60.2 million (including a $5 million Thursday preview). Three years later, Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) opened to $51.1 million (including a $4 million Thursday preview).
Michael has also broken the musical biopic overseas Thursday record with $18.5 million.
Signage during Lionsgate’s “Michael” Los Angeles premiere at Dolby Theatre on April 20, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Lionsgate)
Early estimates put Michael’s opening weekend at a $65 to $75 million, which will break the $60 million record set by Straight Outta Compton. But Michael’s jaw-dropping Thursday numbers have thrown all predictions out the window.
Sure, the movie could be front-loaded in the extreme with Michael Jackson’s still-fervent fanbase rushing to the theaters, and while I’m well aware that predicting box office returns is an easy way to look foolish, I’m kinda-sorta thinking two things: 1) Michael Jackson’s fanbase is larger than most people realize and 2) the repeat business from those fans will drive Michael to massive box office returns, maybe even past Bohemian Rhapsody’s $900 worldwide gross.
You see, I think that all that finger-wagging and shaming from virtue-signaling movie critics backfired. They are all gasping and pearl-grabbing because Michael doesn’t touch on the child abuse allegations that hit Jackson in 1993 and 2004. From what I’ve read, Michael ends in the late eighties, so why would it? Nevertheless, here’s what I think happened…
Michael’s fanbase was greatly relieved to discover that the movie ignores this stuff, and knowing that Michael will instead focus on what they love about Jackson — his talent, music, and charisma — they couldn’t wait to run out and buy a ticket.
Me? I’ve always found the allegations against Jackson pretty weak. The government spent a fortune hoping to convict him twice. The first time, in 1993, two grand juries refused to indict. The second time, in 2004, the jury found Jackson not guilty on all counts, citing a lack of evidence and the sketchy past of the accuser’s family. Don’t get me started on those ridiculous Leaving Neverland allegations.
If a jury didn’t convict Jackson, why should a $100 million movie?
Also, why not portray Michael Jackson as a role model? Isn’t that good for the culture, for young people? Why not give them an ideal to aspire to, even if the sharp corners require a little rounding?
Either way, one win for the culture is Normal People ignoring movie critics.