{"id":29872,"date":"2026-05-17T19:29:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T19:29:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/29872\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T19:29:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T19:29:53","slug":"box-office-michael-returns-to-no-1-obsession-starts-strong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/29872\/","title":{"rendered":"Box Office: ‘Michael’ Returns to No. 1, ‘Obsession’ Starts Strong"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cMichael<\/a>\u201d has moonwalked back to No. 1 at the domestic box office, earning a strong $26 million in its fourth weekend of release. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn a sign of its remarkable staying power, \u201cMichael\u201d towered over several more recent releases, such as \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d and \u201cMortal Kombat II\u201d as well as newcomers like the Focus Features horror film \u201cObsession<\/a>,\u201d Amazon MGM\u2019s revenge thriller \u201cIs God Is\u201d and Black Bear\u2019s action adventure \u201cIn the Grey.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSo far, the Michael Jackson biopic has generated $283 million in North America and a staggering $703.8 million globally. It already ranks as the highest-grossing musical biopic in North America, outpacing 2018\u2019s \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d ($216 million). The Queen biopic is larger at the worldwide box office with $911 million, though \u201cMichael\u201d should eventually supplant that record, too.<\/p>\n

\n\tRight now, Hollywood and theater operators are enthusiastic as they prepare for the summer season to officially start with the Memorial Day weekend release of Disney\u2019s \u201cStar Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.\u201d Heading into one of the busiest stretches for the industry, overall ticket sales are 16% ahead of last year, according to Comscore. That\u2019s thanks to several overperforming blockbusters, such as \u201cMichael\u201d and \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada,\u201d as well as \u201cThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie\u201d ($964 million globally) and \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d ($667.9 million globally).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSpirits are rather high given the strength of the year to date box office,\u201d says Comscore\u2019s head of marketplace trends, Paul Dergarabedian. \u201cThe industry is feeling optimistic for a solid Memorial weekend with the remarkable long-term playability of holdovers, along with \u2018The Mandalorian and Grogu.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d slid to second place on domestic charts after two consecutive weekends at No. 1. The nostalgic sequel earned $18 million from 3,830 venues in its third outing, a decline of 58% from the prior weekend. \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d has been a hit with $546.2 million in global ticket sales, including $175.9 million in North America and a massive $370 million internationally.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cObsession\u201d enjoyed the strongest start among new releases, landing in third place with $16 million from 2,615 theaters. Audiences and critics were enthusiastic, awarding the film an \u201cA-\u201d grade on CinemaScore exit polls and a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes \u2014 which bodes well for box office longevity. Opening weekend crowds were 59% male, while 40% were between 25 and 34 years old. YouTube breakout and first-time director Curry Barker directed \u201cObsession,\u201d which follows a hopeless romantic who makes a twisted Faustian bargain to win his crush\u2019s heart. Focus spent $14 million to acquire the R-rated thriller at last year\u2019s Toronto Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnother weekend, another well-made, low-budget horror film over-performing at the box office,\u201d notes David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn the Grey,\u201d starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Henry Cavill and Eiza Gonz\u00e1lez, opened at No. 9 with a muted $3 million from 2,018 locations. Guy Ritchie directed the movie, which has lousy reviews (46% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a tepid audience reaction (\u201cB\u201d grade on CinemaScore). Like many of Ritchie\u2019s films, including \u201cThe Gentleman\u201d and \u201cWrath of Man,\u201d the plot of \u201cIn the Grey\u201d follows an improbable heist mission.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis start is well below average for [Ritchie],\u201d says Gross. \u201cRitchie\u2019s films often do well overseas with their British source material and characters, but we don\u2019t see particularly strong foreign business here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNot far behind, \u201cIs God Is\u201d debuted in 10th place with $2.2 million from 1,510 theaters, a smaller footprint compared to other new releases. Aleshea Harris directed the R-rated film in her feature directorial debut. Adapted from her 2018 play, the story centers on two sisters (Broadway favorite Kara Young and Mallori Johnson) on an epic quest for revenge. \u201cIs God Is\u201d holds a sterling 97% on Rotten Tomatoes as well as a solid \u201cB+\u201d grade on CinemaScore.<\/p>\n

\n\tElsewhere on domestic charts, \u201cMortal Kombat II\u201d tumbled to fourth place with $13.4 million from 3,534 theaters in its sophomore outing. Those ticket sales mark a sharp 65% drop from opening weekend. The Warner Bros. video game sequel has generated $62.2 million in North America and $101 million globally after two weekends of release. It cost $80 million to produce.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSheep Detective\u201d rounded out the top five with $9.3 million from 3,554 screens in its second weekend, a decline of just 38% from its debut. The crowd-pleasing mystery, starring Hugh Jackman alongside some talking sheep, has grossed $29.6 million in North America and $58.7 million worldwide. Amazon MGM spent a hefty $75 million to produce the film.<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount\u2019s concert film \u201cBillie Eilish \u2013 Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D),\u201d which also opened last weekend, plunged to the No. 13 spot. Despite strong reviews, the movie earned a paltry $800,000 from 2,613 theaters in its sophomore outing, a harsh 88% decline from its soft $7.5 million start. Ticket sales stand at $9.2 million domestically and $25 million globally. \u201cHit Me Hard and Soft\u201d was produced for $20 million through a partnership with Paramount and Interscope Records.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMichael\u201d has moonwalked back to No. 1 at the domestic box office, earning a strong $26 million in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[8,11473,9,18151,7],"class_list":["post-29872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-stories","tag-headlines","tag-michael","tag-news","tag-obsession","tag-top-stories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116591579779438891","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}