Michael overtakes Oppenheimer as highest-grossing biopic

Michael has surpassed Oppenheimer as the highest-grossing biopic of all time.

The film about the early life of Michael Jackson, starring Jaafar Jackson in the title role, has grossed $977 million (£740 million) at the worldwide box office.

Oppenheimer was the previous record-holder in terms of films based on real people, with $975 million (£739 million) globally.

Michael already ranked as the biggest musical biopic of all time, surpassing 2018's Queen sensation Bohemian Rhapsody, which generated $911 million (£690 million) worldwide.

After a record-breaking start, Michael has remained a box office powerhouse into the competitive summer cinema-going season.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film chronicles Jackson's journey from his childhood singing with the Jackson 5 to his ultimate status as the King of Pop.

The singer's real-life nephew, Jaafar, made his acting debut to portray Jackson. Colman Domingo and Nia Long played his parents, Joe and Katherine.

While presenting a prize with Long at the BET Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night, Jaafar thanked audiences for supporting the film.

"We're so grateful for the love you all showed to our movie," he said on stage at the Peacock Theater. "You guys have the theatres packed. We're truly so humbled. Your support means the world to the Jackson family."

Critics complained that Michael takes a sanitised look at Jackson's life because it doesn't include the child sexual abuse allegations that were levelled against the singer later in his career.

Since the film skirts the more controversial aspects of Jackson's later life, the studio, Lionsgate, was able to leverage the film's more crowd-pleasing elements, including meticulous recreations of concert performances and music videos.

The studio is expected to greenlight at least one more film about Jackson's life.