By Jake Coyle in Los Angeles

Michael, the big-budget Michael Jackson spectacle, has shrugged off bad reviews and a troubled production to shatter records for music biopic debuts.

The highly authorised portrayal of the King of Pop, co-produced by the Jackson estate, took in $US97 million ($A136 million) in US and Canadian theatres, and $US217.4 million ($A304.7 million) globally, according to studio estimates.

Lionsgate’s Michael far surpassed previous biopic top performers like Straight Outta Compton – a $US60.2 million ($A84.4 million) domestic debut in 2015 – and Bohemian Rhapsody – $US51 million ($A71 million) in 2018.

Internationally, Michael collected $US120.4 million ($A168.7 million), with its global opening figures also a new high for a music biopic.

Universal picked up distribution in most international markets.

A few weeks back, domestic box office estimates for Michael were closer to $US50 million ($A70 million).

Going into the weekend, the studio estimated closer to $US70 million ($A98 million). But it wildly overperformed.

“From the beginning, all of the signals were that something like this was possible,” said Adam Fogelson, Lionsgate chairman.

“We were seeing massive engagement with every conceivable audience segment that you could identify.”

Even in the lucrative market of music biopics, Michael was an audacious bet on an extraordinarily popular but controversial figure.

The reputation of Jackson, who died in 2009 at the age of 50, has been repeatedly tarnished by allegations of sexual abuse of children.

Jackson and his estate have maintained his innocence, though the pop star acknowledged sharing a bedroom with other people’s children. He was acquitted in his sole criminal trial in 2005.

Some Jackson family members opposed the film. Janet Jackson was uninvolved and doesn’t appear in it. Jackson’s daughter, Paris, called it “fantasy land”.

But three years after Leaving Neverland, the 2009 documentary about Jackson’s alleged sexual abuse of children, Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King announced plans for the biopic. Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, was cast to star.

Michael had an unusually rocky production. After shooting was completed, producers realised they had made a costly mistake.

The third act focused on the accusations of Jordan Chandler, then 13 years old, whom Jackson paid $US23 million ($A32 million) to in a 1994 settlement. The terms of that settlement barred the Jackson estate from ever mentioning Chandler in a movie.

A huge chunk of the film had to be cut. Reshoots for as much as $US50 million ($A70 million) were done at the estate’s expense.

Director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan reworked the movie to conclude in 1988, before any accusations were made.

Critics slammed the film for glossing over some of the less convenient aspects of Jackson’s life. It scored a paltry 38 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. But audiences were far more enthusiastic. Michael earned an A- on CinemaScore.