After earning over $1 billion at the box office, Antoine Fuqua's controversial Michael Jackson biopic finally landed on streaming today. On Monday (August 10), Starz became the exclusive streaming home for "Michael," the highest-grossing music biopic of all time and one of this year's biggest movies so far.
From the producer of "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Graham King) and the director of "Training Day" (Antoine Fuqua), the film stars Michael's nephew Jaafar Jackson as the American pop star and traces his run from being a member of the Jackson 5 through to the Bad tour. It's currently sitting at a 97% approval rating from moviegoers on Rotten Tomatoes (which stands in stark contrast to the 38% rating from critics).
If you've been chomping at the bit to stream "Michael" from home, here's everything you need to know to watch it now. Just be careful busting a move to the King of Pop's greatest hits; we're not as young as we used to be.
When is 'Michael' coming to streaming?
"Michael" first hit the big screen on Friday, April 24, before making the leap to premium video-on-demand (PVOD) storefronts like Prime Video or Apple TV on June 9. As of August 10, "Michael" is streaming exclusively on Starz.
That's actually a little earlier than our release date prediction. New movies from major studios typically release digitally 45-65 days after they first hit theaters. Lionsgate tends to drag its feet on bringing its biggest movies to the best streaming platforms, but this release is a few weeks ahead of its usual four- to five-month timeline.
If you're not already subscribed, Starz offers ad-free programming for $7.99 per month or $74.99 per year. You can stream the movie on the Starz app or web portal. "Michael" will premiere on Starz's cable channel on Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Given how well "Michael" performed in theaters, I'm surprised to see it hit Starz so soon. For Lionsgate films, we can typically expect to wait between four and five months for a streaming release. For example, "The Long Walk" only came to Starz in January 2026, despite its release in theaters back in September 2025. Similarly, "The Housemaid" hit the big screen in mid-December last year, but only landed on Starz on April 1 this year. So for "Michael" to land on streaming just three months after its theatrical run is a welcome surprise.
Don't have Starz? In a February Forbes report, we learned that Lionsgate secured a new pay deal with Prime Video that included the full 2026-2028 slate. That deal will bring Lionsgate movies to Prime Video after their initial run on Starz. So, if you want to stream "Michael" on one of the more prominent streamers, odds are it'll come to Prime Video at some point in the future.
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