The long-delayed film has fans dancing in the aisles and has taken more than $200m at the box office
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n Wednesday evening, revelers gathered in the lobby of New York’s Regal Union Square movie theater before filing into the night’s slate of Michael screenings. The King of Pop has become box office royalty after the film moonwalked into the biggest opening weekend for a biopic ever (even surpassing 2023’s Oppenheimer). Now, its success has resulted in even more attention worthy of Michael Jackson’s immense star-power, with videos circulating online of fans dancing in the aisles at screenings and a sequel likely in the works.
However, much like Jackson’s current polarizing force in culture, it’s all a tale of contrasts. The movie’s Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of a paltry 37%, compared with a 97% audience score is a rare chasm. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw was one of many who lambasted the Antoine Fuqua-directed film, saying it was “bland, bowdlerised and bad”, as well as “frustratingly shallow”.
Many fans I spoke to were undeterred. “I grew up listening to him and my dad was the main fan,” said Joanne, a Long Island University college student from Fort Greene, Brooklyn who made the trek to this Manhattan multiplex to see the movie for what will be her second time. “We have all of his CDs, pictures, books and vinyls.”
