Michael Jackson's---This Is It---opening WorldWide (263 hits)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Jackson fans around the world readied for the singer's last bow Tuesday in a film that captures rehearsals for his aborted concert stand last summer. From early evening in Los Angeles to late night in New York City, from the pre-dawn hours in Europe to business hours in Asia and elsewhere, "Michael Jackson: This Is It" arrives simultaneously in the biggest cinematic blowout ever for a music film.
Opening in 99 countries Tuesday and Wednesday, the film expands to 110 territories by this weekend, with distributor Sony putting 15,000 prints of "This Is It" into circulation. The simultaneous showings around the globe will be anchored by a star-studded premiere at the Nokia Theatre, a concert venue across the street from Staples Center, where many of Jackson's rehearsals — and his high-profile public memorial — were held.
Longtime Jackson collaborator Kenny Ortega, who directed and produced "This Is It," is expected to attend, as are members of Jackson's band and the executors of his will. Entertainers including Snoop Dogg, Smokey Robinson and Zac Efron are also on the 5,500-member guest list... The film has potential all-ages appeal, with the Motion Picture Association of America giving it a family-friendly PG rating for "some suggestive choreography and scary images."
Clocking in at one hour, 51 minutes, "This Is It" plays in a limited run of just over two weeks, lending it some of the exclusivity that had been intended for the concerts Jackson had planned in London.
{ I'm so excited about the movie-documentary of Micheal's last months. Can you believe that just yesterday, I finally received the 'History' DvD that I had requested from the library since June--- after he died?! It was just that many people ahead of me who had requested the same DvD. Micheal Rest In Peace. }
