MICHAEL (2026): Early Reviews Hint That the Movie About the King of Pop Could be a Critical Flop

Michael Jackson Biopic Gets Low Rotten Tomatoes Score

The new Michael Jackson movie, Michael, is sitting at a 27% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes which makes its chances at achieving Oscar glory rather slim.

Colman Domingo should leave his mantlepiece cluttered as of now. Despite preliminary rumors he could be a potential Best Supporting Actor nominee next year for playing Michael Jackson’s father in Michael, the film’s low critics’ score hints that this film could be long forgotten when Oscar time arrives. Michael stands at just a disappointing 27% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes right now.

Jaafar Jackson is playing the King of Pop and has received some decent notices for his work, but unfortunately, he probably won’t be Oscar-bound unless a minor miracle happens. Robert Daniels of Rogerebert.com trashed Michael with a mere one-star rating, but Daniels also gave Sinners a near-negative review last year. That Michael B. Jordan/Ryan Coogler film went on to achieve much love when awards time arrived. Still, Daniels is a top critic so his opinion cannot be taken lightly.

Antoine Fuqua directed Michael. Fuqua has had some ups and downs in his career. He started out with a dud, the Mira Sorvino-starrer, The Replacement Killers in 1998. Over the years, Fuqua gained much success directing Denzel Washinton in his Oscar-winning role in Training Day as well as helming those The Equalizer movies which also featured Denzel. Michael stars Jaafar Jackson, Miles Teller, Domingo and Nia Long, to name a few. While an Oscar nod is not completely ruled out for Domingo, the new film looks more likely to compete at the Razzies with the Rotten Tomatoes score it has than the Academy Awards.

Michael is a whole different animal, though. Biopics have become commonplace these days with movies about Queen’s Freddie Mercury, Elton John and Bob Dylan among the fairly recent ones. This Fuqua movie about Michael Jackson only spans a bit of the King of Pop’s career up until the release of “Bad.” While a second part to the movie has long been a possibility, much of that second film’s fate will depend on Michael‘s ultimate box-office performance.

While Deadline, USA Today and ScreenRant seemed to like Michael, social media reactions have been mixed at best. Some random people on X (formerly known as Twitter) have claimed this is a great biopic, but as far as major film critics are concerned, mediocre may the word that best describes this film, according to the majority of the big critics. Audiences are predicted to love the film, however, and give it an “A-” CinemaScore and they are likely to embrace it at the box-office.

Recent articles have declared that Michael will rake in the cash at the box-office despite its Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and that it’s a critic-proof hit with its great music sprinkled into the proceedings. $150 million-plus is expected as a worldwide result from the opening weekend box-office numbers. This film is opening this Friday with early screenings on Thursday evening. FilmBook will post a review late Thursday night.

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