The Highest Grossing Musical Biopics

Dang Michael is already number 2? Wow that’s incredible he truly was/is a phenomenon.


Wow,i didnt thought there was a so High gap

I remember an argument used prior to Michael’s release against the film was that BoRhap was was an outlier and musical biographies gross in the $200M – $300M range because of Straight Outta Compton and Elvis.

I think going forward, what matters most is who the biography is on and their impact/popularity at the time of release. Michael and Queen are still incredibly popular today and have had a massive impact worldwide. Elvis, while yes he was extremely famous in his heydays, his fame was a lot more USA centric and his relevancy hasn’t lasted with the younger generations. NWA is still massive in hip hop and rap circles, but not so much outside of that and into other cultures, and the R-rating unfortunately did not help it (though it was immensely successful for its budget). Pop music also translates better throughout cultures and different regions than other genres.

I do think a Madonna biopic could be big, whenever that happens. Potentially Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Shakira, Beyoncé, or Rihanna biopics could do decently well 15 – 20 years from now (though it’s tough to say how well, given we don’t know where they will stand at that time in terms of relevancy).