Few controversies have generated more debate this year than Michael, by Antoine Fuqua, but it seems that hasn’t stopped the public from talking. With 611 million dollars at the box office, the film has managed to dethrone Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ as the fourth highest-grossing biopic in film history. Although Gibson’s film was undoubtedly more profitable. With a budget of just 30 million, the 610 million it made at the box office is even more impressive in context than the 200 million budget that Michael had.
The King of Pop, also of the Box Office
It is far from achieving higher rankings beyond that. The third place is held by the Chinese film Hi, Mom, by Jia Ling, which grossed just over 840 million, and to reach the second and first places, it would have to surpass Bohemian Rhapsody and Oppenheimer, which earned 910 and 975 million dollars at the box office respectively.
None of this takes away from Michael, who is one of the great phenomena of the year. Well positioned as the fourth highest-grossing film of the year—only behind Pegasus 3, Project Hail Mary, and Super Mario Galaxy: the Movie—it has been a spectacular commercial success. Although not critically. Receiving numerous attacks for the partial and very unaware representation of the artist’s image and legal issues, creating a mythologized image of him.
In any case, it doesn’t seem to matter much to the public and fans. And given Michael’s success, it is to be expected that future biopics of artists will continue to seek to hide their dirty laundry to ensure they offer exactly what, it seems, audiences want today: a triumphant representation of the idols they adore.
