The air inside AMC Lincoln Square on Friday night didn’t just feel like a movie premiere; it felt like a sĂ©ance. When that first iconic bassline of “Billie Jean” rumbled through the floorboards, the collective gasp from the crowd wasn’t merely for the nostalgia—it was for the ghost on the screen.

Jaafar Jackson didn’t just step into his uncle’s legendary loafers; he seemed to vanish into them, delivering a performance so eerily precise that the line between actor and icon dissolved in real-time. This isn't just a movie release. It’s a cultural exorcism that is currently being minted into cold, hard cash as the Lionsgate and Universal Pictures biopic, Michael, scorched the Earth on its April 24, 2026, opening weekend with the kind of velocity usually reserved for caped crusaders and space operas.

Early numbers from Fandango and The Numbers suggest that Michael is doing more than just moonwalking past the competition; it’s currently attempting a scorched-earth rewrite of the musical biopic record books. After a massive $12.6 million haul in previews (including Wednesday fan screenings), the Antoine Fuqua-directed epic is staring down a potential nine-figure opening weekend. But the King of Pop isn’t dancing in a vacuum. He has crashed headlong into a marketplace that is already white-hot, thanks to a pair of April juggernauts that refuse to yield an inch of the spotlight: Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and A24’s prestige lightning rod, The Drama.

A Stadium-Sized Duel for the Crown

For the first three weeks of April, the box office belonged to a plumber in a starship. Since its April 1 release, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has functioned as a billion-dollar buzzsaw, feasting on the pure, unadulterated nostalgia of the Wii era. Industry analysts at Forbes have been tracking the film’s vertical trajectory as it sailed past the $500 million mark globally in record time. Yet, even with Mario’s massive gravitational pull, Michael has turned a victory lap into a genuine, blood-and-sequins two-horse race for the number one spot.

The clash has ignited a legitimate cultural firestorm on social media. “I saw Michael at 7 PM and then literally sprinted across the hall to catch a late showing of Mario Galaxy with my kids,” one fan posted on a trending Reddit thread. “The energy for Jaafar Jackson was unlike anything I’ve felt since Bohemian Rhapsody. People were standing up and cheering during the 'Thriller' rehearsal scenes like it was a live concert.” Those early exit polls back up the hype: an A– CinemaScore suggests that producer Graham King has hit the elusive sweet spot between reverent hagiography and cinematic spectacle.

The sheer scale of Michael is hard to overstate. With a production budget rumored to be north of $150 million, Lionsgate didn’t just aim for a life story; they built a sprawling, 127-minute visual feast. Antoine Fuqua’s kinetic, muscular direction, paired with Oscar-winning cinematographer Dion Beebe’s lush lens, gives the film a high-gloss, stadium-sized feel that demands the biggest screen possible. This has sparked a fierce tug-of-war for IMAX and Dolby Cinema real estate, where Michael is currently wrestling screens away from the neon-soaked, planet-hopping visuals of Mario Galaxy.

Zendaya, A24, and the Power of Prestige Catnip

While the heavyweights trade blows for the top spot, A24 is proving that there is still a massive appetite for adult-oriented storytelling in a sea of IP. The Drama, which landed on April 3, has become the definitive “event” movie for Gen Z and cinephiles alike. Directed by Kristoffer Borgli and starring the powerhouse duo of Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, the film has used Zendaya’s untouchable cultural gravity to maintain incredible legs deep into its fourth week.

According to Screen Daily, The Drama saw a 44% drop in its third domestic weekend—a sharper decline compared to its steadier 21% international hold. “Zendaya is the ultimate box office insurance policy right now,” says one veteran distribution executive. “Between the Michael Jackson disciples and the Mario families, you have this massive demographic of young adults flocking to see her and Pattinson in something that feels dangerous, new, and sophisticated.” The film’s success provides a vital third pillar to the April box office, ensuring multiplexes are packed from the noon matinee to the 2 AM “last call” screenings.

The international rollout for Michael has been just as aggressive. Universal Pictures, handling the film overseas, reported massive numbers from the UK, India, and Japan within the first 24 hours. In India, the film has seen a surge in ticket sales that rivals major Bollywood tentpoles, a testament to Jackson’s enduring global icon status. Fans in Mumbai were seen on social media organizing “flash mob” tributes outside Event Cinemas, mirroring the celebratory atmosphere found at Everyman Cinemas and ODEON locations across the UK.

Critically, the film has faced the expected scrutiny regarding the complexities of Jackson’s life, but the magnetic force of Jaafar’s performance is the unifying takeaway. ScreenRant noted that while the narrative follows a traditional structure, the recreations of the 1984 Grammy Awards and the 1987 release of the album Bad are “transcendently accurate,” making the film a visual requirement for the big screen. It’s this “must-see” factor driving the repeat business that Lionsgate is banking on to carry the film through the summer.

As we head into Sunday, the industry is bracing for a photo finish. Michael has the “newness” factor and a massive opening day, but the family-friendly staying power of Mario Galaxy and the cult-like devotion to The Drama are keeping the race tighter than anyone anticipated. What is certain: the early-year drought is dead. The theaters are vibrating, the popcorn is popping, and the King of Pop is back at the center of the cultural conversation, leading a charge into a summer season that looks brighter than it has in years.