Michael,” the movie turned into a huge hit. The film’s total production cost came close to $200 million. To defray costs, Lionsgate sold international distribution rights to Universal. A sequel is in development. A third film after that, Fogelson said, is “not inconceivable.”
“The audience spoke loud and clear,” Fogelson said. “The portion of Michael’s life that this story tells couldn’t have gotten into those allegations because the allegations themselves hadn’t happened in the period this movie existed. I think the audience is judging it on those terms. We’ll see what happens as we move into the possibility of subsequent films.”
Critics slammed the film for glossing over some of the less convenient aspects of Jackson’s life. It scored a paltry 38% on Rotten Tomatoes. But audiences were far more enthusiastic. “Michael” earned an “A-” CinemaScore.
“It’s only human nature to enjoy yourself at the movie theater,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Comscore. “The movie was perfectly positioned ahead of the start of the summer movie season which launches later this week with the ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ that is also poised to outpace even the most generous opening weekend projections.”
The opening for “Michael” added to a strong spring for Hollywood boosted by box-office hits like Amazon MGM’s “Project Hail Mary” and Universal’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” After three weeks atop the box office, the “Mario” sequel slid to second place, with $21.2 million. In four weeks, it’s collected $386.5 million domestically and $445 million internationally.
Meanwhile, “Project Hail Mary” surged past $600 million worldwide in its sixth weekend of release. The film’s total haul for Amazon MGM stands at $305.3 million domestic and $613.3 million globally.
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
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