Summary:
Who this article is for:
- Marketers, founders, and brand leaders who want campaigns that actually connect with real customers.
Key takeaways:
- The Michael Jackson biopic got 40% from critics and 97% from audiences, and both groups were right
- Critics and audiences were evaluating completely different experiences. Only one was the target audience
- The best marketing meets people where they are emotionally and gives them exactly what they came for
- If your marketing gets “critical” approval but doesn’t convert real customers, you may be building for the wrong room
What’s inside:
- Why the critics weren’t wrong, they were just talking to the wrong audience
- What MJ’s $217M opening weekend actually means for marketers
- The marketing lesson hiding in the biggest critic/audience gap in biopic history
- How to build for your actual audience, not the award judges
I left the Michael Jackson biopic dancing through the theater parking lot.
My whole family did. We got in the car and listened to MJ’s greatest hits the entire rest of the weekend. I was buzzing. I was emotional. I was CONVINCED it was one of the best films I’d ever seen.
Then I got home and looked up the reviews.
40% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics called it a “whitewash.” A sanitized PR exercise that glossed over the most complicated parts of Jackson’s life and legacy. Metacritic gave it a 39 out of 100: “generally unfavorable.”
And yet… audiences gave it a 97%. The film broke the all-time opening weekend record for a musical biopic. People were reportedly dancing in the aisles. CinemaScore audiences gave it an A–. 84% said they’d definitely recommend it.
So who was right? Both of them. And that’s exactly the point.
The Critics Weren’t Wrong. They Were Just Talking to the Wrong Audience.
Let me be fair. The critics had legitimate complaints. They came in asking: What does this biopic reveal that we didn’t already know? Does it interrogate the complexities of its subject? Is it cinematically brave?
By those standards, Michael left a lot on the table. Scenes addressing the allegations against Jackson were reportedly cut for legal reasons. The New York Times said it leaves too much unsaid. BBC called it a “whitewash.” Nicholas Barber gave it one out of five stars and called it “a bland and barely competent daytime TV movie.”
Ouch.
But here’s the thing. Critics evaluate films based on what they believe a film SHOULD do. Audiences show up for what they actually WANT. Those are two completely different briefs.
What the Audience Actually Came For
50% of opening weekend audiences said they showed up specifically because they’re MJ fans.
Let that sink in. Half the people in those theaters did not come to have their assumptions challenged. They came because they love Michael Jackson. They came to feel something. They came to be close to an artist they’ve loved their whole lives, many of whom never got to see him perform live (me. rip).
Audiences described the theater experience as “immersive.” Like a live event. Like being front row at a show.
One audience reviewer put it perfectly: “It’s okay to leave a movie feeling good just for the pure entertainment of it.”
That is not a lowbrow take. That is someone who knew exactly what they came for, got it, and left happy.
The critics were watching a biopic. The audience was attending a memorial.
Those are not the same movie.
The Box Office Doesn’t Lie
Michael opened to $97 million domestically and $217 million worldwide. It became the biggest opening weekend in the history of musical biopics, blowing past the previous record holder, Straight Outta Compton ($60 million), by a massive margin.
It also set an all-time Rotten Tomatoes audience score record for a musical biopic, surpassing critically acclaimed films like Rocketman and Elvis on the audience side.
So yes. The critics gave it 40%. The market gave it $217 million and a record-breaking audience score.
I’ll let you do that math.
Why This Worked When Other Biopics Didn’t
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this play out. Bohemian Rhapsody faced almost identical criticism: too safe, too celebratory, not honest enough about the real Freddie Mercury. Audiences loved it anyway. There’s a pattern here.
Music biopics live or die on whether audiences actually feel the performer at the center. For a figure as massive and emotionally significant as Michael Jackson, that was always going to matter more than narrative complexity.
Director Antoine Fuqua knew who was buying tickets. He knew what those people needed from this experience. And he built the film around delivering exactly that.
I wouldn’t say that’s “playing it safe.” Rather, it’s crystal-clear audience strategy.
The Marketing Lesson from a Musical Biopic (And Yes, There Is One)
Here’s where I’m going to make this about your brand. Because I see this exact situation play out in marketing ALL. THE. TIME.
Brands build content and campaigns for the wrong audience.
Not their actual customers. Not the people filling out the contact forms or writing the checks. They build for their internal team, their industry peers, the awards judges; the people in the room who will nod approvingly at sophisticated creative.
And then they wonder why the campaign didn’t convert.
The critics evaluated Michael the way brands sometimes evaluate their own marketing: Did we do everything “correctly”? Is this technically impressive? Does this check the boxes of what good content should look like?
But the audience showed up asking one question: Does this make me feel something?
That’s the gap. And it kills otherwise solid work.
Think about what made Michael work for its audience. It wasn’t trying to educate them about MJ. Most people already knew the story. The film met them where they were, emotionally, and gave them the experience they were hoping for.
The best marketing does exactly the same thing.
You’re not making content for the critics in your industry. You’re making it for the actual human being on the other side of the screen who has a specific problem, a specific emotional state, and a specific thing they need from you right now. Build for THEM (specifically and honestly) and you will win. Even if the “critics” aren’t impressed.
Know Your Audience (not in a generic way)
Here’s the practical part.
The filmmakers used their audience knowledge strategically. Lionsgate put tickets on sale weeks early and screened the film for exhibitors before the review embargo lifted, letting fan momentum build before a single critic published their take.
By the time the 40% scores dropped, the audience had already decided. The good-will momentum was unstoppable. That is a masterclass in audience-first strategy.
So ask yourself: what does your audience actually want from you? Not what you assume they want. Not what would impress your industry peers. What would make THEM leave the theater dancing?
For some brands, the answer is education. For others it’s entertainment, validation, or belonging. The answer is specific to your people, and you have to know them well enough to find it.
At Big Red Jelly, this is where every project starts. Before you build anything (a campaign, a website, a brand) you have to understand who you’re building for and what they need to feel when they walk away. That clarity is what separates work that moves people from work that technically checks every box and still falls flat. It’s at the core of everything we do across Brand, Build, and Grow.
The Bottom Line
Critics gave Michael a 40%. Audiences gave it a 97% and a $217 million opening weekend.
The critics asked: Is this a great film?
The audience asked: Does this give me Michael Jackson?
Both groups got exactly what they were looking for. But only one of them was the target audience.
If your marketing is getting “critical” feedback but not connecting with real customers, it might be time to ask yourself which room you’ve been building for.
Because the people who matter most aren’t the ones reviewing your creative.
They’re the ones dancing through the theater and the parking lot on the way to their car.
(Which, for the record, was me. Fully unashamed. Video redacted because it might ruin my reputation as a professional.)
Sources: Rotten Tomatoes • Yahoo Entertainment • JustWatch • Forbes • BBC • New York Times • Entertainment Weekly • Vulture • TODAY
