Maps Chidzonga

Diamond Boy by birth, Superman by reputation.

[Lumis @Lumis_digital]

When you understand how this played out, you will appreciate this number even more.

No major studio wanted to touch this film. None. Every single one of them passed. Too much controversy, too much risk, too many allegations attached to the name. Lionsgate said yes anyway, spent $155 million, and just became a completely different company.

$898 million worldwide. Biggest opening weekend in biopic history. They beat Hunger Games. They beat Twilight. They are chasing Bohemian Rhapsody's all-time biopic record and will probably catch it before Japan even opens.

Now let's talk about what this actually means for everyone involved.

The Jackson family

Their estate co-produced this film. They did not just approve it, they are on the revenue side of one of the most profitable biopics ever made. Michael's nephew Jaafar plays him. His grandmother Katherine said Jaafar embodied Michael completely. The family is winning financially and emotionally.

But the film erases the abuse allegations entirely. No Jordan Chandler. No Wade Robson. No James Safechuck. Nothing from Leaving Neverland. A new lawsuit from a family alleging four siblings were abused dropped right around the film's release. The box office does not make that disappear. If anything, $898 million means more people are now watching a version of Michael Jackson's life with that entire chapter cut out.

The Oscars

It is probably not winning Best Picture and most industry insiders know it. The awards conversation got complicated fast. Critics pointed to flat storytelling, inconsistent makeup, and the obvious problem that the estate co-produced a film about the estate's subject, which makes the omission of the allegations look less like a creative choice and more like a condition.

The comparison people keep making is Elvis. That film completely skipped the fact that Presley started pursuing Priscilla when she was 14. It still got eight Oscar nominations. Bohemian Rhapsody downplayed Freddie Mercury's sexuality and won four Oscars. So Hollywood has a pattern of rewarding sanitised biopics. The question is whether the Jackson allegations sit in a different category. Based on the current awards conversation, the industry seems to think they do. Jaafar's performance might get a nomination nod. The film itself is unlikely to go far.

The Black community

This is the most layered part of the conversation.

Michael Jackson is not simply a pop star to Black audiences. He is a cultural landmark. A Black man who crossed every barrier that was supposed to stop him and became the most famous entertainer who ever lived. The way the 1993 allegations were handled, the way his changing appearance was mocked instead of examined with any compassion, the way Leaving Neverland was received with an immediacy that many Black audiences felt was applied differently than it would have been for a white artist, all of that is part of how this film is being experienced.

The $898 million is being read as vindication. The world loved him. His nephew carrying his image with dignity was worth seeing. Repeat viewings are driving the box office significantly, and a large portion of those are Black audiences who grew up with this music treating the cinema like a reunion with something that shaped their entire sense of what Black excellence could look like.

What $898 million actually tells us is this: Michael Jackson's gravity is so powerful that nearly two decades after his death, at the centre of one of the most documented controversies in entertainment history, a film about his life broke records that superhero franchises and dystopian blockbusters never touched.

[AARONATION 👽 @AARONATION_M]

Arteta as a professional player:
>2x FA Cup winner
>1x Scottish league winner
>1x Scottish league Cup
>0 minutes played for his country

Evra:
> 5x Premier league winner ( more than Arsenal as a club).

> 1x UCL winner ( more than Arsenal)

> 1x FIFA Club World Cup ( more than Arsenal)

> 2x Serie A winner

> 3x Carabao Cup

> 2x Coppa Italia

> 1x supercoppa Italiana

> 1x French league cup

> captained his country to euros final.

Comparing Arteta to Evra is an insult to the football at large.

[blexy🧚‍♀️ @utdblessin]

Good morning FT 🔴❤️

[SimplyUtd @SimplyUtd]

🎥 Don’t underestimate MANCHESTER UNITED! 🤫

More transfer blockbuster coming this summer💪

[Royalty @terryndoro]

"Cup yetea yandataura moda kuzondiigira ndamuguva here?"

[Ayanokoji @layeee09]

Le vieux du quartier m’a dit : « N’oublie pas que la boussole a été inventée avant l’horloge parce que la direction est plus importante que le temps. »

[Mac @Mac_Gooner]

This brother is back. Full chest

[BRUNO FERNANDES COUSIN @QueenMancunian]

Whenever I wake up, I thank God for these pictures 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Maps Chidzonga @iSuperMaps]

@zaGaraba @DaMidgetZimbo Aaah Mhofu! Muri vapenyu?

[Romz @Romme1andre]

I need this on streaming platforms!

[Maps Chidzonga @iSuperMaps]

@DaMidgetZimbo

[🎧 @y0bushid0]

A successful hate watch might be greater than watching your team win🤣🤣

[Maps Chidzonga @iSuperMaps]

@TouchlineX And yet...

[Adebiyi Ayodeji @muhyii4real]

@TouchlineX Pain, is that you?

[Ron @Ronhotspur]

Me liking every Arsenal slander tweet

[Maps Chidzonga @iSuperMaps]

@TouchlineX

[Lea @Lea_EFC]

IT’S HAPPENED AGAIN 😭😭😭