The Golden Globes’ awards committee has denied Lionsgate’s bid to have its megahit Michael Jackson biopic Michael compete as a musical or comedy at the 2027 ceremony. Gold Derby first reported the news.
Though the Globes generally adhere to a studio’s preference in these matters, the committee felt that the film didn’t meet the rule stipulating that “a musical can be a comedy or a drama in which songs are used in addition to spoken dialogue to further the plot.” The members felt that the musical performances in Michael did not sufficiently drive the narrative.
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Lionsgate may appeal the ruling ahead of the Oct. 31 submission deadline, though sources say an appeal is unlikely. The Globes’ decision means the film, which stars Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop, will compete for nominations in the best motion picture drama category with such films as Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three.
This classification could hurt Jaafar Jackson’s chances of landing a best actor nomination for his first film role. The lead actor and actress categories at the Globes are separated by genre; the drama categories are seen as more competitive than the musical or comedy categories. The Globes don’t separate supporting actor and actress performances by genre, so this doesn’t affect nomination chances for Colman Domingo and Nia Long, who played the pop star’s parents.
Musical biopics have long proven to be hard to classify at the Globes. Ray, Taylor Hackford’s biopic of Ray Charles, was nominated for best motion picture, musical or comedy in 2004. Walk the Line, James Mangold’s biopic of Johnny Cash, won in that category the following year.
Most subsequent biopics have competed as dramas. Bohemian Rhapsody, Bryan Singer’s Freddie Mercury biopic, won best motion picture drama in 2018. Elvis, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic, was nominated in that category in 2022, as was Mangold’s 2024 film A Complete Unknown, which focuses on a pivotal four-year period in Bob Dylan’s life.
One notable exception, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis, the story of a folk singer struggling for success in 1961, was permitted to compete in the musical or comedy category. It was nominated in 2013.
Fuqua’s film, which opened on April 24, became the first biopic in history to surpass $1 billion at the worldwide box office. The film grossed $1.029 billion, $117 million more than the previous record-holder among music biopics, Bohemian Rhapsody.
Nearly two-thirds of the box-office receipts for Michael came from outside of the U.S. and Canada. It grossed $373.3 million in the U.S. and Canada, which puts it at No. 5 for the year-to-date, behind Spider Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, Toy Story 5 and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Nominations for the 84th Golden Globe Awards will be announced Monday, Dec. 7. The ceremony, hosted by Nikki Glaser, is set for Sunday, Jan. 10.
The Golden Globes are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.