With another $5.69 million on Memorial Day, Michael will pass $320 million domestically by tonight/very early tomorrow morning (and $800 million globally sometime before Friday), which means it will be passing Oppenheimer‘s $330.1 million domestic run to become the highest-earning biopic in North America probably by the end of next weekend. Yours truly thinks we’ve come to the realization that the toxicity around the film and the brand were never going to do much harm in the long run. You see, it already had the best opening for a biopic ($97.2 million), smashing past Oppenheimer ($82.5 million in 2023) and Straight Outta Compton ($60.2 million in 2015), and is the highest opening for Lionsgate outside Twilight or Hunger Games. And in terms of musicals, it only sits behind Bohemian Rhapsody‘s $903.6 million global cume.

Oh, and the King of Pop has reigned supreme for six decades now when it comes to the Billboard charts. Hmm, so where does the toxicity factor into this film’s totals…?

#1 – It doesn’t, because it [Michael] gives the folks exactly what they want.

Folks came to see the on-screen embodiment of Michael Jackson and his rise from his childhood to the icon he’s presented as now. Musicals reign supreme when the lights are brightest and folks want to jump up and tag along in the multiplex. Think along the lines of The Lion King (and its 2019 live-action adaptation), Frozen (and its sequel), Wicked (and its sequel), Aladdin (and its 2019 live-action adaptation), Moana (and its sequel and upcoming adaptation), Sing, Mamma Mia!, and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s nephew, embraced the role with vigor and embedded many of Michael’s quiddities onscreen. Touching on the important details from the Jackson 5 days to his troubling relationship with his father (shoutout to Colman Domingo delivering a complex portrayal of Joe Jackson) to his breakout on MTV with the likes of “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” to the infamous moonwalk, it all works out in a suitable fashion. And since it delivered on its promise for the first half of Jackson’s life, it became a critic-proof blockbuster, essentially because A) Jackson is a draw and B) it gave fans the concert-like film they wanted from the day it was announced.

#2 – Critics vs. audiences = one side brings the goods.

Ok, so let’s get into this for the umpteenth time. As has been the case endlessly since the advent of SEO-driven media when Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice became universally panned by critics yet somewhat appreciated by audiences in March 2016 (thanks for the hits, Rotten Tomatoes!), we’ve come to this bridge between what is constituted as “good” versus what is “bad” for the hell of it.

Online pundits may share their scorn and distaste (think of Captain Marvel‘s audience-bombing ratings in 2019), yet it amounts to little in the grand scheme of things. Then there is the whole apparatus of professional disgust vs. the traditional moviegoer when it comes to the product. And yet, the audience will speak its mind the most. Jurassic World Dominion grossed $1 billion despite poor reviews. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (and its sequel, which is heading toward $1 billion as we speak) continues to prove critics and professionals wrong as kids and families line up to watch the Nintendo product.

In Michael‘s case, many of the harshest reviews still acknowledged the high-energy musical sequences, Jaafar Jackson’s impressive performance/mimicry of his uncle, and the “for the fans, come sing along” element that essentially reverberates as the once-fabled zeitgeist. True, the whole montage travelogue of the film doesn’t do it justice as a proper story, and it relieves a significant portion of the tension the film aspired to. However, that becomes a footnote in and of itself if audiences just wanted to come and groove. Thus, the critics’ attacks on the film simply became proverbial raves.

#3 – Jackson remains (and will remain) a pop culture icon, even if the discussions of allegations remain incessantly afloat back then and today.

Now, we get it. Some critics kept bashing the product for not touching on these important elements (which will probably be saved for the sequel in active development), which should not be taken as grounds to pass it by. The film completely defenestrated the appearances of Janet Jackson and Diana Ross as well, yet still put on a showcase for the singer.

Call the continued claims apocryphal or legitimate, it did not have any bearing on where Jackson has come today: a revered icon in the pop culture realm that still has standout hit songs that will remain in the funnel. “Thriller” has become a classic Halloween theme, while songs like “Bad”, “Billie Jean”, “Human Nature”, “Beat It”, and many more remain on the radio and in broadcasts day after day.

So, if the film respects those workings, then so did audiences. And Michael was quite the showcase.