Fans flock to see 'Michael' as movie dominates North American box office

Lionsgate's  Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" dominated the North American box office in its opening weekend with $97 million, according to data from measurement firm Comscore released on Sunday.

"Michael" also took in a reported $120.4m from international markets for an estimated $217.4m worldwide through Sunday.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film tells the story of Michael Jackson's life beyond the music, highlighting both his life off-stage and some of the most iconic performances from his early solo career.

On the review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of just 38 percent based on 210 critic reviews, while its audience score stands at an impressive 97 percent positive.

The film was also slammed by Humane World for Animals over the role of MJ’s famous pet chimpanzee, Bubbles, in the movie.

The organisation warned that could boost the demand for exotic pets, saying its portrayal of Bubbles as a “friendly and manageable” domestic companion risks reinforcing the idea that wild animals can thrive in private homes.

But that didn’t stop fans from checking it out. 

After leading the North American box office for three consecutive weeks, Universal and Illumination's animated adventure film "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" slipped to second place in this fourth weekend, grossing $21.2m for a North American total of $386.5m.

Rounding out the top three, Amazon MGM Studio's science fiction film "Project Hail Mary" generated $13.2m in its sixth weekend for a domestic cumulative audience of $305.4m.