Related muses: the biopic about the pop king "Michael" topped the box office

Over the past weekend, cinema attendance returned to previous levels. 1.5 million viewers came to watch the new rentals, which is 0.6 million more than a week earlier. The film about Michael Jackson became the leader of the Russian box office. The biopic "Michael" earned almost 320 million rubles over the weekend. Guy Ritchie's action movie "Dirty Money" spends its second week in the top, collecting another 114 million. The comedy "Not alone at home 3. Prom" with Milana Khametova, whose box office was about 60 million rubles, took the third place with a serious lag. Also among the rental leaders is the domestic thriller "The Abyss" starring Mark Eidelstein from the NMG Film Distribution company. Izvestia evaluated the preliminary results of the national box office over the past weekend.

Family matters

Antoine Fuqua's biographical film about Michael Jackson topped the Russian box office, earning about 320 million rubles over the past weekend, according to the EAIS (Unified Federal Automatic Information System for Information about film Screenings in cinemas. — Ed.).

More than half a million viewers bought movie tickets. "Michael" was the most successful release of the past weekend. Released worldwide on April 22, the biopic has already collected $846 million and ranks second in the list of the highest-grossing films of 2026, rapidly approaching the historical record of Bohemian Rhapsody ($911 million) among musical films. As in the case of the Freddie Mercury film, the producer of the Jackson movie was the recognized biopic master Graham King.

The director invited the artist's nephew, Jaafar Jackson, to play the main role of the pop king. His father is Michael's older brother and former member of The Jackson 5 band Jermaine Jackson. Back in 2020, the producers liked Jaafar. His voice is similar to that of a famous relative. But, not believing in luck on the first attempt, the producers continued casting and from Los Angeles to Tokyo they searched for Michael's doppelgangers. Having failed to find them, they returned to their nephew.

Izvestia asked Olga Zinyakova, president of the KARO cinema chain, whether Michael's would maintain its attendance level in the future.

— A lot of attention is focused on the biopic, and the marketing campaign is working confidently and non—trivially - what is the cost of just showing at the Dynamo stadium! — Olga Zinyakova told. — The musician's fan base in Russia is so huge that it is guaranteed to affect demand even with an ambiguous "sundress". Therefore, the release should reach at least half a billion rubles.

Guy Ritchie doesn't give up

Last week's most successful release, Guy Ritchie's action thriller Dirty Money, dropped to the second position in the rating. His box office amounted to 114 million rubles, which is 55 million less than the initial figures. However, the number of sessions decreased by almost half compared to the first weekend, from 23.8 thousand to 12.8 thousand. Jake Gyllenhaal, Henry Cavill, Asa Gonzalez and Rosamund Pike take part in this crime action. The director shot a tough story about the world of big money, based on real events. The prototypes of the characters were looking for a debt of $50 billion, but Richie cut the amount in the script to $1 billion for credibility.

When the ruthless tycoon Salazar embezzles someone else's fortune, the best in their field, Sid and Bronco, are commissioned by an experienced lawyer, Rachel Wilde. Having developed a sophisticated strategy of economic pressure, they corner the conman, who, in turn, lures them to the island, where a real fight will unfold.

Hollywood leaders confirm that moviegoers miss the shows from the majors.

— The dynamics of Guy Ritchie's new product is excellent: the volume of sessions has halved, and the box office has dropped by only a third, — says Olga Zinyakova. — The operating time per session in the second weekend was higher than in the first. The degree of viewer activity is related not so much to the country of origin of the release, but rather to its wow factor, the scale and value of viewing on a large screen with excellent picture and sound quality.

According to Zinyakova, viewers want to appreciate the premieres of "Michael" and "Dirty Money" on professional equipment and in an atmosphere suitable for this, as these new releases feature a lot of musical material, noise, dynamic scenes and interesting editing solutions, while the small screen eats up the lion's share of this magic.

All the best for children

The comedy "Not alone at home 3. Graduation" is in the third position of the EAIS rating. The gap from the rental leader was an impressive 54 million rubles. The box office of the second weekend is 60 million. As expected by the head of the KARO network, the Russian comedy starring Milana Khametova was able to take away some of the audience from Hollywood releases. Comedy has a minimum age limit of 6+. Having started at the box office on May 21, on the eve of the last school calls, "Not alone at home 3. Graduation" demonstrates a stable result.

This is followed by the horror-thriller "Obsession" by Curry Barker. This critically acclaimed film earned even more in the second week of release than at the start: 46.2 million rubles against 37.8 million in its debut weekend. The main roles were played by Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette. The picture tells us that you should be afraid of your desires, because they tend to be fulfilled.

Roman Artemyev's animated novelty "Koshchei. The mystery of living water." The cartoon from the KinoAtis studio and the STV film company became a continuation of the story about the hero of Russian fairy tales. The success of the first part ("Koshchey. The Bride Thief") was so convincing that the rights to show the second tape have already been sold to 30 countries around the world, including South Korea, Turkey, Romania, South Africa, the UAE and Bulgaria. The film debuted at the box office with a mark of 45,2 million rubles.

At the top of the box office is the thriller "The Abyss" from the NMG Film Distribution company. Despite the high competition, the tape earned 26 million rubles. The main roles were played by Tina Stoilkovich, Mark Edelstein and Stepan Belozerov.

Izvestia will tell about the main premieres of the current week. Keep an eye on publications and posters.