Despite overwhelmingly negative reviews and bitter blowback over the decision to not even hint at the child sexual abuse allegations that plagued his later years, the Michael Jackson biopic Michael is an enormous box office smash that’s creating a massive upswing of interest in his music catalog on streaming services.
According to Billboard, Jackson’s solo work work registered a career-best 137.5 million official on-demand streams for the week of April 24-30 in the United States. That’s up 146 percent from his previous career high. He also hit 55.9 million song clicks in the same week. Prior to this, his best was 53.7 million clicks during Halloween week in 2019, thanks largely to “Thriller” popping up in playlists that time of year.
The groundswell of interest isn’t just limited to Jackson’s solo work. The music he made with his brothers in the Jackson 5 (and later the Jacksons) throughout the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties generated 10.1 million streams throughout the week, up 135 percent from the prior week. And they had 4.9 million clicks, up 57 percent from the week before.
Because of all this, Thriller is now the Number Seven album on the Billboard 200. Jackson’s hits compilation Number Ones is at Number 13, the Michael soundtrack is at Number 37, and The Essential Michael Jackson is at Number 158. Over on the Hot 100 singles chart, “Billie Jean” re-entered at Number 38.
It’s a tremendous victory for the Jackson estate, who pushed the movie through a very troubled production, including the revelation the filmmakers were legally prohibited from portraying the child abuse allegations levied against Jackson by accuser Jordan Chandler. That forced them to reshoot the entire third act, and delay the release of the movie by nearly a year.
Michael is expected to gross upwards of $1 billion at the global box office. The movie ends with the words “The Story Continues,” strongly implying a second chapter. If that happens, expect latter-day tracks like “Black or White,” “Remember the Time,” “Will You Be There,” and “Scream” to reenter the charts as well. We might even catch a glimpse of Janet in that one. In the first movie, she was erased from history, per her own request.