Michael Jackson movie opening moved up two days

Now this is really it.

Aiming to create a cinematic happening out of the theatrical release of its newly acquired Michael Jackson movie, Sony announced today that “Michael Jackson: This Is It” will arrive in theaters for a limited two-week run on Oct. 28 — two days earlier than its original release date.

And in an attempt to stoke fan anticipation for the film — which includes more than 80 hours of behind-the-scenes and rehearsal footage shot in the lead-up to Jackson’s sold-out London comeback concerts — the studio is taking the unusual step of putting tickets on sale Sept. 27, more than a month before the film arrives at multiplexes.

“As we began assembling the footage for the motion picture we realized we captured something extraordinary, unique and very special,” said the film’s director, Kenny Ortega, in a statement. Ortega, the director-choreographer behind Disney’s lucrative “High School Musical” TV-movie franchise and the movie “Dirty Dancing,” as well as Jackson’s creative partner on his Dangerous and HIStory tours, worked closely with the performer up until his death as director of Jackson’s This Is It concerts.

“For the first time ever, fans will see Michael as they have never seen him before — this great artist at work. It is raw, emotional, moving and powerful footage that captures his interactions with the ‘This Is It’ collaborators that he had personally assembled for this once in a lifetime project,” said Ortega.

Disney made successful use of a similarly unorthodox release strategy for its 3-D concert movie “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds.” That film’s limited two-week engagement in February 2008 drove attendance in its opening weekend, resulting in “Best of Both Worlds” becoming a surprise No. 1 hit.

Moving “This Is It’s” release date to Oct. 28 from Oct. 30 also makes solid tactical sense for Sony.

Halloween, which falls this year on a Saturday, typically the biggest day of the week for movie attendance, is one of the toughest weekends of the year at the U.S. box office, although the date finds a natural correlation with one of the songs included in “This Is It”: Jackson’s ghoulishly themed smash hit “Thriller.”

Contrary to earlier reports, the filmmakers confirmed that “This Is It” will not contain sequences shot in 3-D.

— Chris Lee

Photo: Michael Jackson. Credit: Kevin Mazur/AEG Getty Images

Comments

[CaliMJFan]

Interesting they selected the day after Jermaine's tribute in Vienna.

I will be in line for tickets and I'm sure to watch it at least 10 times... so count me in! When will the CD be released? And the DVD?

http://calimjfan.blogspot.com/

[Linda]

This is awesome. I can hardly wait to see this movie. Michael is truely missed. A light went out here on earth the day he passed away. There will never be another like him. Rest in peace dear Michael.

[hopewins]

Um hello, copy-edit much?

"which includes more than 80 hours of behind-the-scenes and rehearsal footage shot in the lead-up to Jackson’s sold-out London comeback concerts"

P'haps you meant "footage from more than 80 hours..."

(watch those budget cuts)

[Nick]

Yeah right, when Ortega and AEG say it's drawn from 80 hours of concert footage, I have no doubt the film is likely 80 percent focused on his back up dancers, Real World style and very little of him actually performing any songs. This whole thing smells of fraud if you ask me.

Even that footage they released in early July was misrepresented by that snake Randy Philips, who claimed that Jackson was singing for real, that there were no pro-tools playback subsituting for his real voice, but anyone who has seen MJ's HIStory concerts from twelve years ago can see that it is virtually identical to the way MJ opened those shows, lipsyncing They Don't Care About Us and doing the same dance moves that he did a dozen years ago.

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Renee]

Michael Jackson was my idol and still will be forever.
Im doing a class speech on him because i love him soo much. No-one loved him as much as i do. I have massive posters of him all over my wall. And i sleep peacefully dreaming of him. Sorry to the jackson family but in our hearts he will live F.O.R.E.V.E.R.
You healed the world

Love you michael jackson

Long Live The King

[dodgyville]

The film includes "more than 80 hours of behind-the-scenes and rehearsal footage" does it? I hope they have an intermission.

[beachyorkies]

who and where will they be selling the tickets?

[monkey]

i cant wait for this movie 2 com out i will defenitly go see it R.I.P michael jackson ur singin with the angles now

[Natalie DeJohn]

I might go see this. It has the potential to be really great (unless it is really 80 hours long :-) I'd love to see footage from Thriller on the big screen for sure. It looks fun, but "raw, emotional, and moving?" Really? Sounds a little dramatic.

[Chris]

I was wondering if you knew who was going to be seeling these tickets? Will ya have 2 go online or go 2 like the movie theater, please let me know! Chris