Michael Told Mario To Beat It, As King Of Pop Biopic Dances All Over Box Office Records

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The Super Mario Galaxy Movie had a strong few weeks in the top spot of the box office, but our favorite video game plumbers proved no match for Michael Jackson. The King of Pop told Mario and Luigi to “Beat It,” as the new musical biopic Michael moonwalked its way to No. 1 this weekend — shattering box office records along the way. With $97 million in domestic ticket sales, Michael holds the best first weekend ever for a biopic.

The Jason Segel and Samara Weaving-starring comedy thriller Over Your Dead Body also had its debut, and with some big titles coming to May’s theatrical releases, let’s break down what all of these numbers mean.

Check out the domestic Top 10 below:

Weekend Box Office: April 24-26, 2026

* denotes new release

Michael’s domestic earnings of $97 million (per The Numbers) beat the previous record-holder, 2015’s Straight Outta Compton, which earned $60 million in its first three days, and 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody, which opened to $51 million. It was the biggest opening on the 2026 movie calendar so far behind The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($131 million) and the best of the year for live-action flicks behind Project Hail Mary’s $80.5 million, Variety reports.

The records don’t stop outside the confines of North America, either, as Michael added $120 million in international markets for a global total of $217 million. That’s without Korea, which has pushed the opening to May 13, and Japan, which is releasing the biopic in June.

That $217 million puts Michael at No. 6 overall for 2026 worldwide releases, according to Box Office Mojo, behind Wuthering Heights’ $241.7 million — after one weekend. It was also the biggest Imax debut for a musical biopic, with $24.4 million of that worldwide total coming from the supersized screen.

This is obviously great news for Lionsgate, who split the $200 million production budget with Universal (the international distributor) and Michael Jackson’s estate, who footed the bill for reshoots of the movie’s ending due to legal restrictions. Michael is the production company’s biggest release since 2015’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, which debuted to $102 million.

Now the Lionsgate brass are likely wondering if Michael might become its most successful title of all time. A different Hunger Games chapter currently holds that honor — Catching Fire from 2013, which earned $865 million globally by the end of its theatrical run.

A month ago, Michael was on track for a $150 million global debut, per Deadline, and despite critics taking issues with the movie’s lack of a deep dive into the artist himself, hype for the movie continued to rise, and fans apparently loved the celebration of the King of Pop’s music — especially as portrayed by Michael’s nephew Jafaar Jackson.

Rotten Tomatoes shows the disagreement between critics and fans, with Michael holding a Tomatometer score of just 38%, compared to the fans’ Popcornmeter score of 97%. CinemaScore has moviegoers grading the movie an A-. How long can the king maintain the throne?

Super Mario Bros. And Project Hail Mary Get Big Wins Despite Slip

This weekend may have meant the end of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s run at the top, but with $21.2 million domestic and another $36.6 internationally, it surpassed the $800 million mark globally, now holding $831 million after four weekends. Project Hail Mary tells a similar story as it drops to No. 3. After six weekends it has hit its own global milestone of $613.3 million. Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!

Things were less bright for the movies that fell below it on the chart. Over Your Dead Body debuted to a lower-than-expected No. 8 with $1.4 million. The reviews for Jason Segel and Samara Weaving’s movie of marital mayhem were generally positive — and audiences gave it 80% on RT, compared to the critics’ 69%. We’ll have to see what word-of-mouth advertising can do for Jorma Taccone’s funny, gory action-thriller.

Can The Devil Wear Prada 2 Help Mother Mary?

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy had a pretty disappointing first three days, but in its second weekend, the reimagined monster movie managed to bring in another $5.6 million, falling just 58% from its release. It’s also getting a nice boost internationally, boasting a worldwide total of $65.5 million, and with a reported budget of $22 million, that sounds like a win to me.

This was technically also Mother Mary’s second week in theaters, though this was its first in wide release. Anne Hathaway’s psychosexual pop thriller earned $1.3 million in the U.S. and Canada, which was good for 9th place, giving it $1.5 million after two weekends. With a reported budget of $20 million (before marketing), it’s not going to be easy to break even on this A24 offering. Could The Devil Wears Prada 2 possibly give it a boost?

The long-awaited sequel starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep hits theaters next weekend, reportedly on track for a $66 million debut. Is it possible moviegoers will opt for the Hathaway double feature — “Mother Prada,” if you will? “The Devil Wears Mary”? I’ll work on it.

I’m excited to see what happens next week when Michael Jackson wants to be startin’ somethin’ with Miranda Priestly, so meet me back here for another box office breakdown.