The Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” returned to the top of the North American box office over the weekend ending May 17, 2026, while horror newcomer “Obsession” delivered a debut that exceeded industry forecasts. The frame, positioned in the quiet stretch before Memorial Day weekend, saw studios hold back major releases, creating room for holdovers and a low-budget genre film to dominate the conversation.
“Michael” Returns to the Top in Its Fourth Weekend
Lionsgate’s “Michael,” directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jaafar Jackson as his late uncle, earned $26.1 million across 3,560 screens in its fourth weekend, according to figures reported by Variety, Box Office Pro, and The Hollywood Reporter. The film had slipped to second place in its previous frame, behind “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” but reclaimed the lead after recovering IMAX and premium large-format auditoriums that had been temporarily handed over to “Mortal Kombat II.”
The biopic’s domestic total now stands at roughly $282.8 million, with a global cume of $703.9 million, making it only the second film of 2026 to cross the $700 million mark worldwide after “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” It has already passed “Bohemian Rhapsody” ($216 million) to become the highest-grossing musical biopic in North America, though the Queen biopic still leads the genre globally with $911 million.
“Michael” opened on April 24 in the United States with $97 million domestically, a figure Variety described as the largest debut for a musical biopic, ahead of “Straight Outta Compton” ($60.2 million in 2015) and “Bohemian Rhapsody” ($51 million in 2018). IMAX accounted for $5.2 million of the film’s weekend take, bringing its premium-format total to more than $60 million globally.
“Obsession” Opens Above Projections
The weekend’s strongest new release was “Obsession,” the directorial debut from YouTube creator Curry Barker. Distributed by Focus Features and produced with Blumhouse, the horror film opened in third place with $16.1 million from 2,615 theaters, well above the $9 million to $12 million range projected by tracking services.
The film carried a reported production budget of $1 million, which Focus Features acquired out of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival for a reported $14 million. Industry observers noted that the opening represented a return on the acquisition cost in a single weekend, with marketing spend layered on top.
“Obsession” earned an A− CinemaScore from opening-night audiences and holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from both critics and viewers. The A− grade is uncommon for the horror genre, where films typically land between B and C on CinemaScore exit polls.
Audience Demographics
Opening weekend audiences for “Obsession” skewed 59% male, with 40% falling in the 25 to 34 age bracket, according to Focus Features data cited by Variety and The Wrap. Roughly three-quarters of the audience was under 35. The turnout aligns with a demographic that has not been showing up in equal numbers for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” or “Michael.”
The film follows a hopeless romantic who breaks a magical artifact called the “One Wish Willow” to win the affection of his crush, only to face consequences when the wish is granted. Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter star.
The Rest of the Top 10
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” slid to second place with $18 million in its third weekend, after two consecutive frames at No. 1. The 20th Century Studios sequel has now earned $175.9 million in North America and $370 million internationally, bringing its global total to $546.2 million.
“Mortal Kombat II” dropped 66% in its second weekend to $13.4 million, finishing fourth. The Warner Bros./New Line video game adaptation has earned $62.2 million domestically and $101 million worldwide against an $80 million production budget. Amazon MGM’s family comedy “The Sheep Detectives,” featuring Hugh Jackman, rounded out the top five with $9.3 million in its second weekend, a 38% decline that pushed its domestic total above $29 million.
The bottom half of the top 10 included “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” “Project Hail Mary,” a re-release pairing “Top Gun” with “Top Gun: Maverick,” Guy Ritchie’s “In the Grey” with Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal at $3 million, and Amazon MGM’s “Is God Is” from playwright Aleshea Harris at $2.2 million from 1,510 locations.
Exhibitors are heading into one of the busier stretches of the calendar with overall ticket sales pacing 16% ahead of the same point in 2025, according to Comscore. The Memorial Day weekend will bring Disney’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” Paramount’s supernatural horror entry “Passenger” from director André Øvredal, and Neon’s crime comedy “I Love Boosters” from Boots Riley.
