By Tasnim Oyshi
Staff Writer
The teaser trailer for “Michael” was posted on the YouTube channel for Lionsgate Movies on Nov. 6. As of mid-November, the little over a minute-long video has amassed about 14 million views. This biopic about Michael Jackson will feature his nephew, Jaafar Jackson, as the widely recognized “King of Pop” and it will be released in theaters on April 24, 2026.
The news of this film has already garnered a great deal of attention, with music and movie fans alike looking forward to watching it next year. The excitement surrounding the biopic is similar to the hype that “Elvis” had when it came out in 2022.
Just four years before that, “Bohemian Rhapsody” premiered in 2018 to an audience of enthusiastic fans and has since become one of the most recognized biopics. The release of “Oppenheimer” in the summer of 2023 was also an immense success, especially with the marketing boost that came from the “Barbenheimer” meme.
All of these films were hits in the box office, with “Elvis” reaching $289 million worldwide, "Bohemian Rhapsody” with its $904 million in revenue, and “Oppenheimer” gaining $976 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Looking at these numbers, it is clear that biopics have cemented themselves as a well-loved genre.
They have become so well-received by audiences, in fact, that there are even shows nowadays that replicate the style in a longer form. “Pam and Tommy” from 2022 about Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's past relationship, 2016's “The Crown” about the British royal family and Netflix's “Monster” that focuses on a different serial killer each season are a few recently famous ones.
There is nothing inherently wrong with biopics, of course, and there are plenty of excellent ones out there, such as “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Social Network” and “A Beautiful Mind.” In fact, biopics can be a great way to explore the life of a prominent person. However, one of their main problems is the frequency with which they have been made in the last couple of years.
It seems the number of biopics that are being released each year is growing consistently. Because they end up being so well-liked by audiences, this can be seen as a good thing. However, focusing so much on biopics can breed a lack of creativity.
While making a movie is a long, complicated and strenuous task, the workload is much lighter when the plot has already taken place. Yes, the screenwriters still have to write the script. But the task is ultimately much easier to complete than to come up with an original idea and decide where to take the story.
Movie executives unfortunately seem aware of the success of this genre, however. They understand that they are marketable at the moment, and that prevents them from giving original ideas the space to come into existence.
The genre has also become so saturated in recent times that there are now films coming out about people who are still alive and have the potential to do more with their lives. The 2024 Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown,” and the recent Bruce Springsteen film, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,” are just two examples that are both guilty of this. It feels odd to watch a film about someone when you could easily go to their concert instead. At the very least, the person the biopic is about should have passed before the biopic is made.
This further shows the limitation that comes with studios releasing so many biopics every year. There are so many movies that have been made about so many different types of people recently. Producers will eventually run out of people interesting and popular enough to make biopics about.
Perhaps then, the buzz around biopics will die down and more original and innovative ideas will be allowed the chance to be turned into films. Biopics can still exist and people can enjoy them without the films taking up such a big portion of the movies that are released per year. We need to focus less on biopics and give original ideas the opportunity to thrive.
