Michael is a certified blockbuster, and now, Michael Jackson’s catalog is set to skyrocket as well.
On Spotify alone the late superstar’s monthly listener count jumped by five million from last Monday to today — from just over 68 million to 73 million. The Jackson 5 meanwhile, gained a million monthly listeners in the same time frame, going from 8.7 million to 9.7 million.
According to Luminate, when comparing last Friday and Saturday, the first two days Michael was in theaters, to this past weekend, Jackson’s streams jumped 95 percent, from 16.3 million combined streams to 31.7 million. The Jackson 5, meanwhile, saw an 85 percent boost, going from 1.3 million streams to 2.4 million in that same time period.
Michael garnered mostly negative reviews from film critics, and the film largely avoids the scandals that surround Jackson’s legacy including the allegations of child sexual abuse. (The day the film came out, four more people came forward with a new lawsuit alleging abuse as well.) The controversies clearly didn’t stop fans from attending, as Michael smashed the all-time record for an opening for a biopic, earning $97 million at the domestic box office and $217 million globally. The film has a 37 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes but a much more favorable 97 percent audience score.
The movie showcased many of Jackson’s biggest songs including “Thriller,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Billie Jean,” as well as Jackson 5 classics “I Want You Back,” “ABC” and “I’ll Be There.” To make it convincing on screen, Michael’s filmmakers blended Jackson’s original recordings with Jaafar Jackson and Juliano Valdi’s, who performed the songs on set.
“They were capable of delivering those vocals,” Michael music supervisor John Warhurst told The Hollywood Reporter last week. “But then it becomes more an overall philosophy of when people go see the movie, do they want real Michael to be a part of this movie, or do they want it to just be 100 percent Juliano and Jaafar? Every movie is different, but here we think people want Michael to be a part of it.”
THR logged the Spotify stream counts on Jackson’s 10 biggest songs from the day of the Michael premiere in Los Angeles last Monday versus the Monday after opening weekend. “Billie Jean” got 17 million more streams and now has 2.652 billion streams versus 2.635 billion last Monday. “Beat It” earned 12 million more streams and climbed to 1.7 billion total, and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” earned 7.5 million more streams and now has just over 729 million total.
As for The Jackson 5, “I Want You Back” got 3.5 million more Spotify streams, up to 1.157 billion, and “ABC” got another 1.1 million more and now has nearly 458 million.
Michael stands be a mainstay at the box office in the weeks ahead, and now all eyes are turning toward if the team will pursue a sequel. As THR reported last week, with the movie’s success becoming clearer, the filmmakers and studio behind the film decided about a month ago to include the “His Story Continues” teaser at the end to hint at another potential Jackson flick.
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