In a moonwalk for the box office history books, Antoine Fuqua’s record-smashing Michael Jackson biopic is returning to No. 1 in its fourth weekend with as much as $27 million domestically, only days after dancing past the $600 million mark globally. And last weekend, it became the top-grossing music biopic of all time ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody in North America, not adjusted for inflation.
Michael, from Lionsgate and producer Graham King, is benefiting from the failure of the video game adaptation Mortal Kombat II to turn into a crowd pleaser beyond its core fanbase.
Last weekend, almost all Imax screens went to New Line’s Mortal Kombat, but the martial arts sequel has underwhelmed and ceded much of its Imax footprint to Michael and a 40th anniversary celebration of Tom Cruise’s Top Gun franchise that includes screenings of both the first film and the more recent Top Gun: Maverick (the double billing is expected to earn an estimated $2.6 million).
David Frankel’s The Devil Wears Prada 2 also continues to dominate even as it cedes first place to Michael domestically. And on Friday, the 20th Century and Disney sequel sashayed past the $500 million mark globally to become the top-grossing female-fueled pic since Barbie, not adjusted.
Prada 2 is expected to gross another $20 million or so domestically in its third outing for a North American tally of around $178 million through Sunday (while it has access to a number of premium large-format screens, it was never remastered to play in Imax). But Disney’s film empire will soon be the ruler of all premium-large format auditoriums when Memorial Day tentpole Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu opens around the world this week.
Another title performing nicely in the lull before Grogu: emerging directorCurry Barker‘s supernatural horror filmObsession, which is headed for a third-place finish this weekend with $15 million after costing a mere $750,000 to produce. That’s well ahead of the $10 million to $12 million initially projected for its debut. Obsessionhas won over both critics and audiences in equal measure, boasting a coveted 94 percent score among both categories on Rotten Tomatoes as of midday Saturday.
Barker, 26, has spent the past few years amassing an avid fan base on YouTube with his sketch comedy channel, That’s a Bad Idea. He next made the $800 found-footage serial killer featureMilk & Serial, which went viral. Almost overnight, everyone in town was trying to win him over; he ultimately signed UTA.
Obsession, whichFocus Featuresacquired out of TIFF for around $15 million, stars Michael Johnstonas a young man who has long been in love with a friend Nikki (played by Inde Navarrette), and hopes that she will one day feel the same. But disastrous consequences ensue when he buys a One Wish Willow, which promises its users it will grant one wish upon splitting it in half, and wishes for his friend to love him. Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless and Andy Richter also star.
Mortal Kombat II could tumble as much as 67 percent for a domestic gross of $12 million to $13 million after opening to a tepid $38 million last weekend.
Amazon MGM’s family-friendly filmThe Sheep Detectives, likewise a critical and audience favorite, is expected to round out the top five with $10 million in its sophomore outing. The comedy-mystery follows a flock of talking sheep who are determined to solve the suspicious death of their beloved shepherd, played byHugh Jackman, who read them detective novels on a regular basis despite having no idea they could understand him. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, directors of the 2026 box office hitProject Hail Mary, are among the film’s executive producers.