‘This Is It’ Debuts, Elizabeth Taylor Still Crazy

Published by Jeff Leins on: October 27th, 2009

The Michael Jackson documentary This Is It debuts in worldwide theaters tonight (3,500 locations in the U.S.), and it’s already poised for massive success as the only wide release through the Halloween holiday.

Screenings start at 9pm EST just after the Los Angeles premiere is ending on the West Coast. Actually, you can watch the premiere live at ThisIsIt-themovie.com (as well as Crackle and Ustream) if you want to watch and comment on the red carpet event as its happening.  I wonder if anyone will mention the molestation charges in the online chat?  Nah.

Sony’s Columbia Pictures paid $60 million to acquire the behind-the-scenes footage and 100+ hours of concert rehearsal video from AEG Live before the film was edited together by the tour’s choreographer Kenny Ortega. In total the movie needs to make an estimated $100 million to turn a profit for the studio, but experts are predicting more for the limited two-week run.

$40 million in the first five days is the low end of expectations and one rival executive is somehow figuring a possible $660 million worldwide.  Of course, like most limited engagements, it will likely extend the theatrical run if ticket sales remain high enough.  It only needs to top $70.6M globally to overtake Miley Cyrus’ concert film, Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour, for the record of highest grossing concert film.

On Monday Fandango was reporting 61% of its online ticket sales were going to the “King of Pop” documentary and that it had snuck into the top five of pre-sales for the year.

The film’s soundtrack, essentially a greatest hits compilation, hit shelves yesterday.  It contains Jackson’s posthumous single “This Is It,” a song that received mixed reviews and caused a PR nightmare last week when it was discovered to be recorded and released 18 years ago by a Puerto Rican artist named Sa-Fire.  The co-author, “My Way” songwriter Paul Anka, threatened to sue the Jackson estate until he was granted 50% of the copyright.

Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson’s close friend and supporter until his death in June, saw the film at a private screening last week and posted her reaction on her personal Twitter account.  She hilariously commented, “It is the single most brilliant piece of filmmaking I have ever seen” before gushing for another 18 Tweets.

Taylor admits to weeping from “pure joy” and wishing her vocabulary could encompass what she feels.  She continues, “You owe it to yourselves and your loved ones to see this again and again. Memorize it and say to yourselves, ‘I saw genius in my lifetime’.” Things get a little more out of hand when she moves from repeatedly calling him a genius (8 times) to dubbing him a “modern day prophet.”

She leaves us with this sensible statement, “I truly believe this film should be nominated in every category conceivable.”