The Michael Jackson biopic, starring the legendary singer's nephew Jaafar Jackson and directed by Antoine Fuqua, has grossed more than $1 billion at the global box office. Thus, Michael has become the first film based on the life of a real person to cross the landmark figure at the box office.

The achievement of the film comes more than two months after its release in theatres. At the time of its release, the film earned many negative reviews from critics, but audiences have embraced it. The film has worked so well for audiences thanks largely to Jaafar Jackson's performance in the titular role, which critics have also appreciated.

Jaafar Jackson delivers an authentic performance as Michael Jackson in the film, embodying the insecurities, the screen presence and the aura of the iconic singer.

Many moments from the film caused strong reactions from audiences in theatres, especially one where Jaafar Jackson does the iconic 'Moonwalk' step during a performance of 'Billie Jean'. Even weeks after its release, several audiences walked out of theatres doing Michael Jackson-like dance steps.

Michael has also overtaken Queen singer Freddie Mercury's biopic Bohemian Rhapsody to become the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time. The humongous success of the film has come as a major relief for distributor Lionsgate, which has reportedly been struggling financially of late. The distributor had a string of films that did not perform as well as expected at the box office in the recent past. As a result, reports say that the distributor faced much pressure from investors to look at an outright sale.

According to reports, Lionsgate signed up for the Michael Jackson biopic even after several big studios in Hollywood opted not to take it on.