“Michael” Tops Nigerian Box Office, Sets Historic Records

Michael, a biopic about American music legend Michael Jackson, depicting his journey from childhood to the King of Pop, has grossed over N100 million in its opening weekend, topping the Nigerian box office. 

This further solidified the film’s global record-breaking success as the biggest biopic opening of all time, earning $217 million globally. As revealed by Nile Entertainment, the film’s West Africa distributor, Michael’s Nigerian box office opening made it the biggest opening weekend for a biopic and the biggest opening weekend of 2026. 

Directed by Antoine Fuqua of Training Day, Michael starring Jaafar Jackson defeated Iyabo Ojo’s Return of Arinzo for the first time after three consecutive dominances at the Nigerian box office. Despite the defeat, Return of Arinzo crossed the N300 million box office mark, soaring to N311.6 million in four weeks with its additional N21.1 million earnings. 

Notably, according to the Nigerian box office update, Michael’s debut significantly affected other box office titles both new and existing, dropping their earnings over the weekend. From the statistics, Akay Mason’s A Spark in the Dark as a debut title in comparison to Michael’s opening weekend fell short by a landslide. It debuted with N5.8 million (4.7%)  against Michael’s N123.2 million (95.3%). 

With its impressive opening weekends at both local and international box offices, Michael, written by John Logan, positions itself as a significant cultural moment for fans who cherish memories of the late legendary singer Michael Jackson. 

According to The Nigerian Box Office, these are the Top Ten Movies of the week (24th- 26th April)/ shared as of April 27th. 

1. Michael: ₦111.6M | ₦123.2M (New)
2. The Return of Arinzo: ₦21.1M | ₦311.6M (WK 4)
3. You, Me & Tuscany: ₦17.7M | ₦88.1M (WK 3)
4. Lee Cronin’s The Mummy: ₦17.5M | ₦47.9M (WK 2)
5. The Super Mario Galaxy: ₦9.1M | ₦1M (WK 3)
6. The Other Side of the Bridge: ₦8.1M | ₦27.8M (WK 2)
7. Trade By Barter: ₦7M | ₦19.7M (WK 2)
8. The Creek: ₦3.5M | ₦102M | (WK 5)
9. A Spark in the Dark: ₦5.8M | New
10. They will kill You: ₦3.4M | ₦66.2M | (WK 5)