Michael Biopic Splits Critics and Fans at 38% vs 96%
SkimNews Take
The film's high fan approval and box office success, despite critical panning, suggests a growing divergence in audience and critic values, particularly for biopics with established fanbases.
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- "Michael" landed a 38% Rotten Tomatoes critics score and 96% audience score, with a projected $85 million-plus global opening that Variety says secures the film's cultural footprint regardless of the critical lashing.
- Jaafar Jackson delivers what Variety calls a "masterful" performance as his uncle, with the "Bad" sequence singled out as the film's creative high point and a potential Golden Globe vehicle.
- Twelve-year-old Juliano Krue Valdi plays the young Michael during the Jackson 5 era, earning praise for emotional clarity and a possible Critics Choice nomination for young performer.
- The Jackson estate's attorneys forced rewrites and reshoots after discovering a settlement clause with accuser Jordan Chandler barred any depiction or mention of him in the film, scrapping the intended third act that would have explored the allegations.
- "Michael" joins a lineage of biopics that sidestep controversy but still earned Oscar hardware — Variety cites "Elvis" (eight nominations), "Bohemian Rhapsody" (four wins including Best Actor for Rami Malek), and "Don't Look Up" (four nominations) as precedent that a rotten Tomatometer is not disqualifying.
- Colman Domingo appears in "Michael" alongside Steven Spielberg's "Disclosure Day," HBO's "Euphoria" final season, Netflix's "The Four Seasons," and a potential "SNL" hosting gig — a portfolio Variety suggests could earn him the Academy's coronation treatment.
- "Michael" ends in 1988 with the "Bad" tour as its crescendo, and Variety flags a potential sequel as the route to address the controversies of the 1990s that the first film omits.
Why it matters: The 58-point gap between the film's 96% audience score and 38% critics score puts "Michael" on a well-worn awards path: recent biopics with rotten Tomatometers ("Bohemian Rhapsody," "Don't Look Up," "Elvis") still racked up four to eight Oscar nominations. For Lionsgate, the real prizes are Jaafar Jackson's breakout performance and a potential ensemble bid at The Actor Awards — both of which can be claimed even if the film never addresses the allegations that cut its story short.
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