The King of Pop is also the King of the Box Office.

A new musical biographical film about Michael Jackson is smashing records after hitting theaters on April 24.

“Michael” is putting the late “Thriller” album creator in the upper echelon of biopics when it comes to money made.

The Antoine Fuqua-directed, John Logan-written movie stars Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in the title role. Fuqua, 60, explores the global superstar’s rise to fame as a member of the legendary Jackson 5 group in the 1960s to his solo success in the 1980s.

"Michael" biopic shatters box office records.
“Michael” biopic shatters box office records and surpasses the 2022 “Elvis” biopic. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

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According to reports, “Michael” racked up $97 million domestically in its opening weekend and added another $120 million internationally for a combined total of $217 million. That starting gross breaks a music biopic record set by 2018’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” ($124 million).

The film also surpassed the opening weekend for 2024’s “Oppenheimer” ($180 million), giving the Jackson feature the title of best-ever debut for a biographical film.

As of this writing, “Michael” has made $424 million worldwide to date, taking over the second-place spot on the list of highest-grossing musical biopics in history.

The 2022 film “Elvis” about the rock-and-roll icon Elvis Presley slipped to third with $288 million.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” still reigns supreme. The drama about Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury grossed $910 million. “Straight Outta Compton” sits in fourth place after totaling $202 million following its 2015 premiere.

2019’s “Rocketman” ($195 million), 2005’s “Walk the Line” ($187 million), 2024’s “Bob Marley: One Love” ($181 million), 2024’s “A Complete Unknown” ($141 million), 2004’s “Ray” ($124 million), and 2019’s “La Vie En Rose” ($88 million) round out the top 10.

With “Michael” outgrossing “Elvis” at the global box office, the online rivalry between the two musicians’ rabid fan bases has heated up in recent days. The bitterness ignited hostile clashes on social media.

“No one in the history of pop music has ever reached this Michael Jackson level… I wonder where all those dancers are now. This man has fans that are not even born yet,” one MJ supporter posted on X.

Another called Jackson, “The Master,” paired with a photo of him and his sister, Janet Jackson, from their iconic 1995 “Scream” video. Over two decades later, the music video, worth $7 million, has inspired generations of dancers.

In response, one person countered, “B—h Please!!! Elvis has been doing it way before Michael was even f–king born!! And he passed 50 years ago!! Michael is still trying to reach Elvis’ level.”  

The back-and-forth led to someone pointing out the obvious difference between the two artists’ impact.

“Elvis’ popularity is mainly in the U.S. and Europe. Whereas, Michael Jackson is a global icon. If both dropped new music today, I’d bet Michael would out easily outsell Elvis. Just look at their biopics. The Elvis movie only made $288M, but Michael’s has earned over $420M.”

“There are Elvis impersonators today who weren’t even alive during his reign. For whom Elvis was never a flesh and blood popstar but a folkloric character, or perhaps a minor deity for whom they are priests. Long live the king,” argued one fan of the “Don’t Be Cruel” hitmaker.

A more measured tweet read, “I think it’s fair to say that while Michael Jackson was the most famous individual pop star in the world, his closest direct predecessor in terms of overall cultural relevance was Elvis.”

The Michael Jackson versus Elvis Presley debate will surely continue for years to come, as protecting the legacies of both Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees becomes paramount to their respective diehard fanatics.

“Michael” may have given Jackson’s fans, affectionately known as Moonwalkers, the leg up over Presley’s fans when it comes to counting the box office numbers, even if professional critics panned the movie.  

Currently, “Michael” has a 39% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In contrast, the review-aggregation website’s audience-based Popcornmeter has a near-perfect score of 97%. Even celebrities such as Spike Lee and Chris Tucker praised the motion picture.

A large portion of the Jackson family supported “Michael” upon its release.

Yet two of the most famous members of the clan skipped the Los Angeles premiere in April. MJ’s daughter, Paris Jackson, and younger sister, Janet Jackson, chose not to show up at the event.

Janet went further, demanding she not be included in the film about her brother.

Jaafar Jackson, 29, has earned praise for embodying his renowned uncle in “Michael.” The movie’s cast also includes Colman Domingo as Joseph Jackson, Nia Long as Katherine Jackson, Kendrick Sampson as Quincy Jones, and Larenz Tate as Berry Gordy.

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