Michael Crosses $300M Global, Overtakes Elvis
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- Lionsgate's Michael is crossing $300M globally, surpassing Elvis ($288.6M) to claim the No. 2 musical biopic spot ever, trailing only Bohemian Rhapsody ($911M), which shared producer Graham King.
- The film opened to $218.8M worldwide, with an international running cume of $169.3M from 82 territories and a domestic week-one total of $129.8M.
- Michael is tracking a $45M second weekend domestically — a -54% drop — pushing the domestic cume to roughly $174.8M by EOD Sunday.
- International holds were unusually strong, with a $12.8M Thursday only -8% from opening Thursday despite competition from Devil Wears Prada 2's launch and sunny weather across Europe.
- Top territories include UK & Ireland ($21.8M cume), France ($14.2M, reclaiming the No. 1 admissions spot from Devil Wears Prada 2), Mexico ($12.9M), Italy ($11.1M, +7% Thursday), and Germany ($9.5M, +25% Thursday).
- The Middle East delivered a +36% Thursday uplift to push its cume to $8M — an exceptional result given the Iran war has been a regional distraction, per the source.
Why it matters: Michael leapfrogging Elvis for the No. 2 musical biopic slot ever redefines the ceiling for the genre. International holds of -8% Thursday and +36% in the Middle East — during a war-zone distraction — show word-of-mouth legs in 82 territories, suggesting the run has runway well past the typical second-weekend decay.
