Michael Jackson film ‘Michael' might become the biggest biopic of all time

The Michael Jackson biopic Michael is closing in on film history, with the Lionsgate release now approaching $800 million at the global box office and firmly on course to become the highest-grossing musical biopic ever made.

The film has earned $788,047,189 worldwide to date, pulling in a further $28.5 million internationally over the most recent weekend alone, according to Variety. 

The record it is chasing belongs to Bohemian Rhapsody, the Queen biopic that set the benchmark with $911 million at the global box office.

Michael has yet to open in Japan, a major market that could provide the boost needed to push it past that total.

Starring Jaafar Jackson, the real-life nephew of the King of Pop, the film traces Michael Jackson's journey from his early days with the Jackson 5 in the 1960s through to his solo career. 

It has performed extraordinarily well commercially despite being hit by controversy, most notably the decision by producers to omit all reference to the abuse allegations that followed Jackson throughout his later life. 

Lionsgate is already looking ahead to a sequel. 

Film chief Adam Fogelson confirmed to Variety that up to 30 per cent of a second film may already have been shot, drawn from footage that was filmed for the first movie but never used. 

"We think we've got 25 to 30% of a second movie already shot from the prior production activity," he said, adding that the studio is "going to make sure we make a big and satisfying movie for a global audience once again." 

Fogelson hinted that the follow-up would explore parts of Jackson's life and music catalogue that the first film never touched, and suggested the story could move both forwards and backwards in time rather than following a strictly chronological structure.

Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50, from cardiac arrest after the powerful anaesthetic Propofol was administered as a sleep aid. 

Fifteen years on, his story is still drawing audiences in extraordinary numbers, and it seems Lionsgate intends to keep telling it.