"Michael", a biopic about Michael Jackson, is officially happening.

Hmm, is it not realistic to expect Michael to outdo Bohemian?
I don’t think it is. BR almost passed the billion mark which is nothing short of a miracle for a non franchise film. This only happens to the really big titles like Jurassic Park, Marvel, Avatar etc. It only happened 54 times I think in movie history.

Furthermore Queen is quite simply outperforming MJ for at least a decade now. They have the largest variety of songs played on the radio (at least in my country). They have 4 songs on Spotify with 1 billion streams. They are constantly in the top 40 most popular artists on streaming platforms (MJ follows from a distance but still top 100).

There is no way Michael with a very damaged reputation will ever come close again to Queen regarding popularity.
 
I don’t think it is. BR almost passed the billion mark which is nothing short of a miracle for a non franchise film. This only happens to the really big titles like Jurassic Park, Marvel, Avatar etc. It only happened 54 times I think in movie history.

Furthermore Queen is quite simply outperforming MJ for at least a decade now. They have the largest variety of songs played on the radio (at least in my country). They have 4 songs on Spotify with 1 billion streams. They are constantly in the top 40 most popular artists on streaming platforms (MJ follows from a distance but still top 100).

There is no way Michael with a very damaged reputation will ever come close again to Queen regarding popularity.
Queen's been doing well in the last decade a lot because of the biopic, for sure. Of course there is a difference, because MJ is not alive and Queen is still active. However, they definitely expect MJ's biopic to do better then Queen's. One indication of that is how much they spent on each movie:

Bohemian Rhapsody - $52 million
Michael - $150 million

Plus, remember this? https://deadline.com/2024/03/lionsgate-starz-ceo-stock-purchse-michael-jackson-biopic-1235855907/

There are many indications that they are expecting this to be the most successful biopic of all time. And it definitely can be.
 
Queen's been doing well in the last decade a lot because of the biopic, for sure. Of course there is a difference, because MJ is not alive and Queen is still active. However, they definitely expect MJ's biopic to do better then Queen's. One indication of that is how much they spent on each movie:

Bohemian Rhapsody - $52 million
Michael - $150 million

Plus, remember this? https://deadline.com/2024/03/lionsgate-starz-ceo-stock-purchse-michael-jackson-biopic-1235855907/

There are many indications that they are expecting this to be the most successful biopic of all time. And it definitely can be.
What is this, optimism? Go away with that nonsense. Let's stick to the doom and gloom please.
 
Future merch? 🤷🏽‍♀️

@iamveronica777

"Dwight O. Campbell, the camera operator for the Michael Jackson biopic, wearing the #MichaelMovie Jacket - via IG"

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Yeah me predicting it will make 500 million definitely sits in the category of ”doom and gloom”.
 
Yeah me predicting it will make 500 million definitely sits in the category of ”doom and gloom”.
You are not being wronged, just disagreed with. The rest of the world has high ambitions, if you don't wanna then just prepare to be on the island of isolation. You can swap with Hulkmaniac on weekends.
 
It’s obvious a lot of you have no clue about the box office. 500 million is a massive success for a biopic, almost unprecedented. I think a lot of you need a reality check, you’re bound to get disappointed if you think this will make a billion.
 
It’s obvious a lot of you have no clue about the box office. 500 million is a massive success for a biopic, almost unprecedented. I think a lot of you need a reality check, you’re bound to get disappointed if you think this will make a billion.
And it is regularly surpassed. Bohemian Rhapsody making what it made is the real shocker.

Bohemian Rhapsody grossed $216.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $694.1 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $910.8 million, against a production budget of about $52 million.

You really mean to tell me an MJ flick can not surpass that in other territories? In Asian countries alone, his influence is bigger. In African lands. Like, come on.
 
And it is regularly surpassed. Bohemian Rhapsody making what it made is the real shocker.
I agree, it was a shock for me, especially since the film was mediocre at best.
Bohemian Rhapsody grossed $216.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $694.1 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $910.8 million, against a production budget of about $52 million.

You really mean to tell me an MJ flick can not surpass that in other territories? In Asian countries alone, his influence is bigger. In African lands. Like, come on.
We will see, all I know is that reaching 1 billion happens rarely and if it happens it is for superhero films or IP’s so that certainly diminishes MJ’s chances.

Here is the breakdown. 14 superhero films (aimed at kids) are in the billion dollar club. 13 are animated films aimed at kids. We are halfway now. There are 5 Jurassic Park films and 5 Star Wars films among them, also arguably aimed at kids and or young adults. There are also 2 transformer films and Barbie created from super popular toylines. There is Avatar, Harry Potter and Tolkien related films
The odd one in the list is Titanic but then again it has always been a highly romanticized disaster.

Now tell me where do you see an MJ biopic fit in?
 
I agree, it was a shock for me, especially since the film was mediocre at best.

We will see, all I know is that reaching 1 billion happens rarely and if it happens it is for superhero films or IP’s so that certainly diminishes MJ’s chances.

Here is the breakdown. 14 superhero films (aimed at kids) are in the billion dollar club. 13 are animated films aimed at kids. We are halfway now. There are 5 Jurassic Park films and 5 Star Wars films among them, also arguably aimed at kids and or young adults. There are also 2 transformer films and Barbie created from super popular toylines. There is Avatar, Harry Potter and Tolkien related films
The odd one in the list is Titanic but then again it has always been a highly romanticized disaster.

Now tell me where do you see an MJ biopic fit in?
Gee, I dunno, where does the most famous man in history's 150 million dollar budget biopic fit in?
 
Oh, so many things to unpack here.. MJ & Box Office..

Just some random bullet points which come to my mind, reading this thread (also some points might seem to contradict each other):
- Box Office at the moment is not what it once was. Once, meaning pre pandemic, pre writer/actor strike.
- Over 40 of the billion dollar club movies (54) came AFTER 2010. A billion means not what it once meant in the 90's & 00's.
- Of course it would be huge if MICHAEL makes 600 million, that'd be my personal threshold to call it an honest financial success. You need to take the budget into account. That's where Bohemian shined, with 900 mill. against a 50 million budget.
- Financials are not everything, a quality movie, good story, loved by the audience & hopefully critics (though f*** them, really..) is more important
- of course with MICHAEL they aim for audience, critical AND financial success.

I will post more thoughts later on..
 
I don’t understand why the box office is the way to go. I think it would be more sensible to rank the most successful film based on ticket sales instead of gross. It is the same for music, thriller isn’t the biggest album of all time because it made the most money, it is because it sold the most records.
 
Honestly if the buzz continues the way it has been then this film will be very successful. I'm not gonna speculate or pretend to know numbers etc but the reaction from critics to the trailer and the massive social media buzz whenever they release a picture says to me that people are very excited about this movie.
 
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