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Posts with tag: michael-jackson | Return to WatchersWatch.com Homepage

This Is It Grosses $20.1 Million Worldwide in Opening Day

The Michael Jackson documentary This Is It grossed $20.1 million worldwide on opening day, according to Variety.
"This Is It" grossed $20.1 million in its first day at the worldwide box office -- a solid, but not glowing, start for Michael Jackson's final act. The Sony release grossed $7.4 million from 3,481 theaters at the domestic B.O., including $2.2 million from Tuesday night shows.

Overseas, where the King of Pop's popularity has endured, "This Is It" pulled in $12.7 million in 97 territories. Opening-day highlights included $1.9 million in the U.K., $1.4 million in France, $1.2 million in Japan and $1.1 million in Germany. Film, slotted to play only two weeks, opened in 10 more overseas markets on Thursday, making for a worldwide print count of 15,000 heading into the weekend. Sony said the successful opening of the pic reaffirms the global appeal of Jackson.

But many in Hollywood expected opening-day numbers to be higher at the domestic B.O. since the film is a fan-driven title. Last year, "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" grossed $8.6 million on its opening day at the domestic B.O., although that pic bowed on a Friday.
The film is expected to top the box office this weekend, barring some kind of upset due to the Halloween factor.

Posted on October 31, 2009
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This Is It Makes $2.2 Million on Opening Day

The Michael Jackson documentary This Is It grossed $2 million in its opening day. Sony held 18 premieres all over the world, with the biggest premiere happening in Los Angeles. The movie has gotten rave reviews from critics. The film was distilled from 80 hours of rehearsal footage from what would have been Michael's comeback concert series starting in London.
The global preem was held Tuesday in order to line up with foreign territories' usual opening days -- films typically bow on Wednesdays in France, for example. The 6 p.m. Tuesday start time in Los Angeles translated to 2 a.m. Wednesday over most of Europe, meaning thousands of fans flocked to screenings in the middle of the night.

The film is playing in roughly 3,500 theaters domestically. It opened in 99 countries including the U.S. and Canada, and expands to 110 territories around the world, with 15,000 prints, this weekend. Plans are for a two-week run.

Sony already is starting to generate big returns for the $60 million it paid concert promoter AEG Entertainment for 100 hours of footage and distribution rights. The first showings of the film earned an estimated $2.2 million in Tuesday night shows domestically and roughly the same amount Wednesday, for a total $4.4 million for two days.

*****

Sony executives declined to disclose financial details of the big-scale preem, but the studio did manage to contain costs in several ways. The only after-party for the premiere took place in L.A., with food catered by Wolfgang Puck, who has a deal with L.A. Live for events, as well as by In-n-Out, Hot Dog on a Stick and Korean BBQ vendor Kogi.
The behind the scenes look at how Michael worked and supervised every minute detail of the show gives a never before seen look into the King of Pop's work ethic. It shocked many people how good a shape Michael was in during the grueling rehearsals.

Overseas grosses are expected to be high.

Posted on October 28, 2009
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Trailer for This Is It Released

The trailer for the upcoming Micheal Jackson film, This Is It, has been released. The film includes footage from the rehearsals for Michael Jackson's London concerts that would have been held if Michael Jackson had not died. The film will arrive in theatres in October 28, 2009 for a two-week limited viewing. Take a look:


Posted on September 14, 2009
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Janet Jackson to Open VMAs With Tribute to Michael

TMZ reports that Janet Jackson is working hard on a special tribute to her brother Michael to be performed at the MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday.
Ms. Jackson is set to put on a huge MJ-honoring performance featuring 20 backup dancers -- which is being put together by some of the best choreographers in the world, including Frank Gatson and Travis Payne.

According to Kryiss Grant, one of the dancers involved (who was also an usher at MJ's burial), some rehearsals have lasted 15 hours a day. Once Janet is finished honoring her brother, Grant tells us "there won't be a dry eye in the house."
The Video Music Awards will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and Janet is expected to open the show with her tribute.

Posted on September 8, 2009
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Michael Jackson's Memorial Service Watched by Millions

Michael Jackson's memorial service was held today at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and was broadcast for free around the globe. The two hour program was tasteful and moving, with low-key performances by Jermaine Jackson (who sang Michael's favorite song "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin"), Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder and Lionel Ritchie. Queen Latifah read a poem written for the occasion by Maya Angelou, Brooke Shields spoke of her friendship with Michael and Motown founder Berry Gordy talked about Michael's life. But the most moving moment came at the very end when Michael's daughter Paris, while choking back tears, spoke of her love for her father. Katie Couric reports:



Posted on July 7, 2009
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ADG Will Refund $85 Million Worth of Michael Jackson Concert Tickets

Concert promoter AEG will refund $80 million worth of tickets sold to the Michael Jackson concerts this summer, due to the singer's premature death.
Concert promoter AEG Live will offer full refunds to those who bought tickets to Michael Jackson's "This Is It" concerts at the O2 Arena in London. Tickets must have been purchased through an authorized agent. Refunds will include all ticket service charges.

The first in Jackson's 50-concert series was skedded for July 13. Jackson died at age 50 on Thursday after going into cardiac arrest. He had been vigorously rehearsing for the 50-show stand at the Staples Center the day before his death AEG said that those who would rather be sent the actual tickets -- designed by Jackson -- may request them in lieu of a refund. "Since he loved his fans in life, it is incumbent upon us to treat them with the same reverence and respect after his death," AEG prexy-CEO Randy Phillips said in announcing the refund policy.
AEG is a part of billionaire Philip Anschutz's Anschutz Corp. AEG is looking at a huge loss on the deal unless it can get the insurer to pay up. Michael Jackson had to pass a physical to get insured for the concerts, but with the recent revelations about Jackson's severe drug addictions we have to wonder: who did the physical exam that said Jackson was in excellent health? You can get more details at Michaeljacksonlive.com.

Posted on June 30, 2009
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On TV: All Michael Jackson, All the Time

After Michael Jackson died, tv stations have rushed to air tributes to the King of Pop. In fact, it's pretty much been wall to wall Michael Jackson coverage lately.
BET's Sunday night "BET Awards" will now take on a different tone, as the kudofest opens with a tribute to Jackson. It took the death of Jackson, meanwhile, for MTV to do something it hasn't done in years: Run music videos all day long. The cabler, which came of age during the "Thriller" era, started pre-empting its programming Thursday night with wall-to-wall Michael Jackson music videos, concert performances and other footage, and continued to do so right up until 6 p.m. on Friday.

After that, the net premiered a new hour-long special, "A Celebration of Michael Jackson on MTV." Then at 7 p.m., it planned to run a repeat of "Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew" that featured all Jackson hits. MTV2 also planned to continue running Jackson-themed programming.

ABC planned another "20/20" tribute on Friday night at 9 p.m., "Michael Jackson: The Man and His Music," anchored by Elizabeth Vargas. "20/20" also planned more Jackson coverage in its normal 10 p.m. slot. Over at NBC, the net's "Dateline NBC" put together a new special, "Michael Jackson: The King of Pop," to run Friday at 10 p.m., behind a repeat of the two-hour Fawcett doc "Farrah's Story." CBS planned no Jackson special on Friday. Fox plans to pay tribute by airing its first-ever "American Idol" repeat on Monday, June 29. That episode, which aired earlier this year, featured the competish's 13 finalists as they performed songs from Jackson's catalog. MyNetwork TV has scheduled a rebroadcast of the World Music Awards, featuring a tribute to Jackson, for Wednesday.

Other just-announced specials include CNN's "Michael Jackson: Man in the Mirror," which will run several times over the weekend, starting on Saturday at 8 p.m. TV Land plans to run the 1992 miniseries "The Jacksons: An American Dream" on Sunday at 2 p.m. And E! Entertainment TV has lined up the news special "Michael & Farrah: Lost Icons" on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., and the special "Michael Jackson" on Wednesday at 10 p.m. It will also run the singer's "True Hollywood Story" edition throughout the weekend.
TV execs believe that the onslaught of Michael Jackson programming will substantially boost viewership this weekend.

Posted on June 27, 2009
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