Lionsgate's Michael is shaping up to be one of the studio's biggest domestic hits ever. The Antoine Fuqua-directed biopic posted $11.1 million on Tuesday, placing it fourth on the all-time list for live-action films on a Tuesday in April, behind only Avengers: Endgame, Furious 7, and last year's A Minecraft Movie.
Through Tuesday, the film's cumulative domestic gross stands at $116 million. At that pace, it is expected to surpass Lionsgate's The Housemaid, which earned $126.4 million domestically, by Friday. By Sunday, it could overtake both The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes ($166.3 million) and potentially John Wick: Chapter 4 ($187.1 million) to become Lionsgate's highest-grossing domestic release of the post-Covid era.
Second-weekend projections for Michael sit between $45 million and $50 million. That would represent a hold of around 50 percent or better, a solid figure given the competition it faces. Opening opposite it this weekend is 20th Century Studios' The Devil Wears Prada 2, directed by David Frankel, which is tracking for $73 million to $80 million in its debut. The sequel has earned a 76 percent Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, comparable to the original 2006 film's 75 percent.
The original Devil Wears Prada received a B CinemaScore but still grossed $124.7 million domestically and $326.5 million worldwide. The sequel is expected to skew heavily female, giving it a different audience profile than Michael.
