question of the day: Will the Michael Jackson film ‘This Is It’ break box office records?
It seems a tad preposterous to me, but Moo! News is reporting that Sony expects beyond blockbuster performance for the Michael Jackson concert movie This Is It:
Doug Belgrad, the production president for Sony, is confident that the sorrow from abroad over the death of the King of Pop will translate to enthusiasm for his last performance, which was taped and then assembled to create the 108-minute film in only 3 months. The company believes in it so much that they expect an estimate of $250 million in ticket sales during just the first 5 days the movie is on screen. This is a very big estimate, which would beat the current $204 million record held by “The Dark Knight”. They also believe the film will generate about $1 billion in revenues.
Weeks ago, Sony was already reporting record advance ticket sales, but bigger than The Dark Knight? I haven’t seen the film yet -- no one at all will see it till tomorrow night, when the first press screenings and the Los Angeles premiere will occur simultaneously; public screenings then begin at midnight -- but it’s hard not to anticipate a certain ghoulishness surrounding the film, particularly since it has been hastily assembled from footage from the rehearsals Jackson was in when he died.
Or Jackson’s fan too legion and too passionate not to make this the biggest movie ever? Will the Michael Jackson film This Is It break box office records?
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comments
posted by Pollas (Mon Oct 26 09, 12:36PM)
I don't know. I don't plan on seeing it.
posted by travis (Mon Oct 26 09, 12:57PM)
I will be seeing it Wednesday night with my family. We are excited to see it!
posted by Steve (Mon Oct 26 09, 1:12PM)
Theres not many people who know what this film will be like. i think it will be a box office hit if people go and tell their friends michael was in top form. even the people who don't think they will go at the moment may choose othwise if word gets spread about how good it is. on the other hand if word speads that its not that great, the there will be the opposite effect. Roll on tomorrow for the answer. as for me I cant wit to see it.
posted by Sia (Mon Oct 26 09, 3:58PM)
I don't know how big it will be and I don't plan on seeing it but I do love Michael's music.
posted by John Voorhees (Mon Oct 26 09, 5:33PM)
I think the whole thing's a bit ghoulish, to be honest.
posted by Lawschool_Douchebag (Mon Oct 26 09, 6:15PM)
I cannot wait to see this Micheal Jackson movie! Ever since he died, I completely forgot about his pedophilia! Apparently the rest of America did too! MJ is a hero!
posted by Pollas (Mon Oct 26 09, 7:03PM)
I don't care what word of mouth the film gets. Loved the man's music, could care less about the man himself (no disrespect for the dead intended).
posted by Tim1974 (Mon Oct 26 09, 8:15PM)
I have enjoyed Michael's music but I am not planning on seeing it at the theatre. When it eventually comes to cable, I will probably catch it then. I would suspect with Michael's world wide appeal it will do very well.
posted by iakobos (Mon Oct 26 09, 9:47PM)
It may break records but not because of me. I have no interest in it.
posted by Angelica (Wed Oct 28 09, 2:49AM)
I just came back from watching "This is it". For me it lived up to all the excitement and hype. I think they did a wonderful job of assembling this movie.
The whole experience was bittersweet, it's like witnessing something that could have been epic and settling for scraps.
I don't know if it will break records, possible. The theater I went to was half empty. But I know of other theaters that are completely sold out.