Michael biopic is compared to Sinners

Lionsgate’s Michael is opening much bigger than the early “Sinners” comparison suggested, with Deadline projecting a $95 million domestic debut after a $39.5 million Friday. (deadline.com) Earlier this week, Variety reported that Michael was aiming for $65 million to $70 million from 3,900 North American theaters. The film stars Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson and was directed by Antoine Fuqua. (variety.com) By Friday morning, Deadline said the opening had climbed sharply, with a possible $100 million domestic start and a $206.4 million global launch across 82 overseas territories. Universal is handling the film internationally outside Japan. (deadline.com) That makes the “Sinners” benchmark a mismatch on the numbers. Variety reported in April 2025 that Ryan Coogler’s Sinners opened to $48 million domestically, a strong result for an original period horror film but far below Michael’s current pace. (variety.com) The more relevant comparison now is the biopic record book. Variety said Michael was already positioned to top music-biopic openings such as Straight Outta Compton at $60.2 million and Bohemian Rhapsody at $51 million. (variety.com) Deadline also reported that Michael posted record first-day openings for a musical biopic in several overseas markets, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexico and Italy. In the U.K. and Ireland, it reached a $4.1 million running total by Thursday. (deadline.com) The film’s path to theaters was unusually long. Deadline, Billboard and Rolling Stone reported that Lionsgate moved Michael to April 24, 2026 after delaying it from earlier 2025 and October 2025 release plans during post-production and reshoots. (deadline.com) (billboard.com) (rollingstone.com) So the current story is not that Michael is being measured against Sinners. It is that Michael blew past early tracking and is now being measured against the biggest biopic openings ever. (deadline.com) (variety.com)