Michael Jackson's This Is It

On September 9, 2009, the film's official theatrical movie poster was released. On September 10, 2009, it was reported that MTV's Video Music Awards, which at the time had already announced that they would honor Jackson at the show, would premiere the film's first, and only known, trailer.[23] Along with Janet Jackson's tribute to Michael, the trailer of the film premiered at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.[24] On September 13, 2009, it was reported that a "secret Michael Jackson [promotional music] single is being produced" to promote the film, at which the film would have, at the time, been released the following month.[25] It was reported that Jackson had recorded the song for release with his planned summer tour but after his death, it was shelved until producers in Los Angeles remixed the vocals with an orchestral accompaniment.[26]

On September 23, 2009, it was reported that the film's new song "This Is It" would be released on October 12, 2009, sixteen days before the film's release.[26][27][28] On October 9, it was confirmed that the song would debut online the following Monday at midnight, receiving its world premiere on MichaelJackson.com.[29] On September 21, 2009, Sony released a 45-second clip of Jackson rehearsing his performance for "Human Nature" and also released stills from the video clip. As part of a print marketing campaign for the film, Entertainment Weekly magazine did a cover story of the film for the magazine's October 16, 2009 issue, to collide with the film's release for that same month.[30][31] Also as part of promotion for the film, Entertainment Weekly released 8 "never before seen" movie stills from the film.[32] On October 21, a clip of Jackson rehearsing "The Way You Make Me Feel" was released.[33] On October 21, a 2-minute featurette of the film was released.[34]

In September 2009, Sony launched "This-Is-It-Fans.com", which allowed fans to sign up for an 'alert' so that they can be able to take part in 'Michael Jackson's This Is It mosaic', in which fans could upload photos to the website, beginning September 21 and running to September 30, and the completed mosaic would be posted online on October 22, six days before the film's release.[35] On September 24, 2009, MTV announced, after the success, the project proved with New Moon, that they will allow MTV registered users, to "watch and comment on any scene in the film's already released trailer". MTV described the project as "essentially [being] an in-video graphical overlay that allows users to comment on the video as it plays and review comments from other users.[36]

On September 25, 2009, lines opened at the courtyard outside the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.[37] It is estimated that hundreds of people were in line; venue owners permitted them to bring chairs and umbrellas during the wait.[37] Lenticular commemorative tickets were made available to the first 500 people in line, as well as those who traded in tickets purchased for the original tour.[37][38] Jeff Labrecque of En commented, "Three months after Michael Jackson's death, I'm still surprised by the passion of his fans."[39] Bridget Daly of Hollyscoop commented on the waiting time for tickets that, she could "expect nothing less" from Jackson's fans.[40]

On September 27, 2009, the first day of ticket sales, all 3,000 tickets to the advance screenings of the film had "sold out within two hours."[41][42] Cinema Blend reported that over 160 showings had sold out.[43] Reuters.com, stated that "hundreds of screenings in North America have already sold out, a month before the film's October 28 opening."[44] According to MovieTickets.com, sales of tickets to the film have "accounted for more than 82 percent of all the tickets sold at the site today [Monday, September 28, 2009]." CinemaBlend.com described the sale of tickets on MovieTickets.com as being "fairly significant"—but remarked that "this is after all, just a concert documentary." It was reported that over 80 percent of tickets sold on Fandango.com were for this film.[45] It was also reported that the film had "accounted for some 80% of all online ticketing in the U.S. within its first 24 hours of sales, dominating presales compared with such upcoming titles as Avatar and The Twilight Saga: New Moon.[46] Sony, confirmed that over 30,000 tickets were sold in the first 24 hours that tickets went on sale.[47][48] Sony also stated that the film had moved over 1 million dollars in tickets sales in Japan.[48] Sony announced in a press release that in the "last 24 hours [since September 27]", over 80% of all Fandango.com and Movietickets.com sales for the film, had already sold out in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Nashville and New York, among others and: "Internationally, exhibitors from London and Sydney to Bangkok and Tokyo have experienced the same epic demand."[49] Sony stated in a statement of the film's good ticket sale's that: "Staggering advance sales were reported in Australia, where tickets for Michael Jackson's This Is It purchased through Village Cinemas exceeded the lifetime pre-sales of such blockbusters as Transformers and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.[49]

On October 1, 2009, Fandango.com stated the film was the 'top ticket seller' on the site.[50] Both Fandango.com and Movietickets.com are reported that more than 1,600 screenings had already been sold out, via online pre-sales, by October 15.[51] In United Kingdom, Vue Entertainment stated that they'd sold 64,000 tickets in the two-and-a-half weeks since ticket purchasing was made available, while Odeon Cinema stated that they'd had the sales of over 60,000 tickets by October 15.[52] E! Online said of the film, based on its current record ticket selling, out-selling and making more revenue then Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert that: "Last year, Disney billed Miley Cyrus' Best of Both Worlds show as a one-week-only event. Then the film scored a $31 million opening weekend, and one week turned into 15. Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus became the top-grossing concert movie of all time. So far. While it's still early, This Is It is on track to top Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. During its first three days of sales, Fandango said, Jackson's film outpaced Cyrus' first three days by a wide three-to-one margin."[50] Joel Cohen, the executive vice president of MovieTickets.com, said of the ticket sales: "Michael Jackson is such an iconic figure, with a fan base that transcends even some of the most bankable stars in Hollywood [...] We expected there to be a large demand for tickets for an 'event' film like this one, but MovieTickets.com has never seen such a high volume of sellouts this far in advance for any movie."[53]

Stuart Boreman, Vue Entertainment's film buying director, stated that the film's sales of over 300,000 tickets in the period of 1 day (24 hours) had "broken box office records" of having the "biggest ever one-day sales record" in the United Kingdom. Boreman stated: "I've never seen anything like it in the 25 years I have been film buying" and described the film's ticket sales as "a true phenomenon and sales show no sign of slowing down."[54] It was reported that fans had lined up at the box office ticket counters throughout the city of Bangkok, Thailand and that by the end of the first day "all tickets for the first showings across Bangkok were sold out."[48] It was also reported that there were "sell-outs at theaters in France" and that "thousands of fans lined up at The Grand Rex in Paris and quickly bought out the film's first screening there [...] Record-setting sales also were recorded in Germany [...] hundreds of fans lined up outside one theater in Munich at midnight to await the opening of the box office." A German exhibitor said of crowds of people lining up for tickets to the film, that: "Something like this [has] never happened before in Germany." Among other countries, "record sales" and "sell-outs" were also reported in Holland, Sweden, Belgium and New Zealand.[48] On October 7, 2009, three weeks prior to the film's release, MovieTickets.com stated that the film had entered their "Top-25 Advance Ticket Sellers of All-Time", bumping The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring from the Number 25 slot.[55] By October 27, Kinekor cinemas sold over 24,000 pre-sale tickets in South Africa, tripling the previous pre-sale record.[56]

Despite the fact that IMAX screenings are usually planned and booked months in advance by the film's movie distributors, Regal Entertainment Group, America's largest cinema chain, stated on September 30, that they would screen IMAX versions of the film at their cinemas.[57] Regal stated that they are planning on making 25 of their IMAX locations available for the screening of the film when it opened to the public on October 28.[57] Dick Westerling, head of marketing and advertising for Regal, stated that the film was selected due to its strong ticket sales.[57] IMAX Corporation and Sony stated that the film will open in digital IMAX theaters and that the limited IMAX release will be played domestically during "evening show times" in 96 IMAX digital theaters, and additionally the movie will be played in 27 of the company's international digital locations.[58] A key part of the IMAX DMR process includes re-mastering the soundtrack to take advantage of IMAX's 14,000 watt digital audio system.[58]

On August 11, it was widely announced, and later confirmed, that the film would be released to theaters in October 2009, though at the time no specific date was released or confirmed.[59] When confirmed it was reported that the film was set be released worldwide on October 30, 2009.[60] Later in August it was announced that the film's release date was rescheduled two days early for October 28.[61] Sony stated that the film's release date was moved up by two days due to an 'overwhelming demand' for the film."[61] On October 6, it was reported and confirmed by a Sony executive, that the film had been chosen to be one of the last of China's "20 annual foreign movie import slots".[62][63][64] China only allows 20 major foreign films to be released in the country every year on a revenue-sharing basis.[64] Chinese censors had reportedly approved the film before the countries weeklong holiday that started on October 1, clearing it in time for the global release date of October 28.[64][65] Li Chow, manager of Sony Pictures Releasing International's stated that Sony will give the movie as wide a release as possible because of Jackson's popularity in China.[64]

In the United States, This Is It finished first at the box office in its opening weekend with $23.2 million at 3,481 theaters—with a per-theater average of $6,675 over the period of five days.[4] This return was deemed "underperformed" by both Sony and film analysts' expectations—Sony's had originally expected the film to make an estimated $50 million,[78] but after the film's "disappointing" three-day gross, due to some fans, mostly in North America, boycotting the film and issuing boycott propaganda in social networks and media, they lowered their expectations to $35 million,[79] while analysts expected an estimated $30 million for the weekend.[80] In the film's second weekend of wide release, it declined to 43.4%,[81] making $13.2 million, placing it at second at the box office, behind A Christmas Carol.[82] The film completed its theatrical run in North America on December 3, 2009.[80]

This Is It made its international debut in 110 territories on October 28–30, 2009. The film's revenue mainly consisted of international sales (72.4%).[4] Throughout the film's international release, it performed strongly at the box office, despite some criticism from other fans in North America. On November 7, the film surpassed the $100 million mark at the foreign box office, reaching block-buster status.[4][83] This Is It, at the Australian box office grossed $8.7 million[84][85] and $1.9 million[86] (in Australian currency).[86] This Is It debuted at first place at the United Kingdom box office, with the revenue of £4.9 million.[87] In the film's second weekend of release, with the gross revenue of the previous week being down 52%,[88] with £.4 million, it placed at second at the United Kingdom—having been outgrossed by A Christmas Carol, which, similar to its second week at the North American box office, had been knocked to second place by the film.[89] The film's international revenue was significantly contributed to within Japan—with $58.4 million, followed by the United Kingdom—with $16 million.[90] With $261 million worldwide, This Is It became the highest-grossing documentary of all time.[4]

The film received mostly positive reviews from film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 81% of 186 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.13/10. The site's general consensus is that "While it may not be the definitive concert film (or the insightful backstage look) some will hope for, Michael Jackson's This Is It packs more than enough entertainment value to live up to its ambitious title."[91] Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 67 based on 32 reviews.[92]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times described the film as being an "extraordinary documentary", and stated that the film was "nothing at all like what" he was expecting to see.[93] Ebert dismissed reports that Jackson was in poor health and was underperforming, stating that the film didn't show a "sick and drugged man forcing himself through grueling rehearsals, but a spirit embodied by music" and referred to Jackson's rehearsal performance(s) as having been "something else".[93] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film for being "strange yet strangely beguiling" for capturing Jackson in "feverish grips of pure creativity" and stated that while the film presents that audience with a screen filled with everyone ranging from "performers, musicians, choreographers, crew members, craftsmen", he took notice that the film had primarily focused on Jackson.[94][95] Honeycutt perceived based on what he'd seen from the behind-the-scenes look of rehearsals that he understood what it takes to "attain such dizzying heights in entertainment" and that he understood why Jackson "chose to stay away" from performing "for a decade" and, based on what he saw from footage from rehearsals that it "looks like the world has missed one helluva concert".[94][95] Honeycutt cited that the only thing that frustrated him more than knowing the "tragedy" that prevented the concert from happening was "not knowing what you're looking at" and commented that the film did not feel like a complete concert film because it had a grip on the audience, stating: "Where are Jackson and his conspirators at any given moment in the creative process? The film tries to be a concert film without having the actual footage. So when everything comes to a halt, audiences get thrown."[94][95] Peter Travers, of Rolling Stone described watching Jackson's "struggle" as being "illuminating, unnerving and unforgettable" and felt that the film was a great "transcendent tribute" to Jackson because it didn't have, nor need, a "safety net".[96]

Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York referred to being a "must-see danceumentary".[98] Rothkopf described Jackson as "obviously" having been "shooting for the moon right before his death" based on what he could tell from the "stunning bits of concert spectacle" of "phalanxes of computer-generated dancers, tempo changes on a dime, a bombshell of a blond guitarist who plays Eddie Van Halen's "Beat It" solo flawlessly".[98] Rothkopf stated that: "But the true value of this raw rehearsal footage is its emphasis, less known, on MJ's laserlike attention to detail, as he works for his band and troupe up to speed. A firm floor manager himself, he's often exposed—and probably wouldn't have approved of this film. (One on one, High School Musical's Kenny Ortega, meanwhile, treats him with kid gloves: "I agree, Michael.") But to see him sweetly lose himself in "Human Nature" ("I like living this way...") is to feel a creature of the stage finally returned home, and possibly on the cusp of redemption."[98] Peter Paras, of E! Online felt that watching Jackson and his performances in a positive aspect is the "genius and the sadness of the entire film".[99] He did note that Jackson's performance of "Earth Song", which consists of using Jackson's voiceover to emphasize his environmental concerns while a bulldozer threatens to eat him, was well-intentioned—because it brought attention to environmental concerns—but felt it was a little over the top.[99] Paras felt the film showed an "exacting and refreshingly funny side of Jackson to be revealed" and "had Jackson lived, we never would have seen those moments" and felt the film was a proper way to "finally say goodbye" to Jackson.[99]

Marjorie Baumgarten of Austin Chronicle referred to the film as being "neither a true concert film nor a strict behind-the-scenes documentary, This Is It is, like Jackson himself, a real hybrid" and felt that while the film's "made up of lots of grainy footage, which Ortega has edited together seamlessly" it will also "provide a fitting farewell".[97] Baumgarten noted that "the finished film is a fairly complete concert run-through with each song edited" and that while the film will easily show that it was made for a profit, that, the audience will see a "film to be a fitting elegy."[97] Joe Morgenstern, of The Wall Street Journal, felt the film was "expertly packaged—brilliantly packaged", and noted that the film "quite convincingly" had emphasized that Jackson had enough energy to perform, even with his "wraith-thin body".[100] Ann Powers, of Los Angeles Times said that while the film offers only a few such "insights into Jackson's artistic process, though enough surface to make this a useful document, as well as a beautiful one" that the film is "a piece with Jackson's body of work: dazzling and strange, blurring the line between fantasy and reality".[101] She described Ortega's editing to make the film feel like a real concert film as being "almost too good to believe".[101] Powers praised the film for showing "intimate views" of Jackson, like his "vulnerable moments" during performances and felt the film was made "to honor not just the memory of Jackson but the hard work of a big cast and crew that never made it to opening night", which she felt mostly is a tribute to the "power of Jackson's body and voice".[101] Powers stated she'd felt the film was such "a tragic teaser for the shows that might have been, 'This Is It' hurts. If Jackson had been able to perform as he frequently does during these scenes, he would have accomplished the comeback for which he was so hungry."[101] She noted that Jackson's "total lack of engagement with the cameras adds to the unreal mood" because he was always performing—"but for the imagined masses, not for the filmgoer" and that the film doesn't "entirely acknowledge that reality, and that's a little odd".[101]

Lou Lumenick, of the New York Post strongly criticized both the film and Jackson's performances. Lumenick criticism of Jackson's performances was he felt Jackson moves "stiffly and lethargically" and that it was "clear" that Jackson was lip-synching while performing 'Thriller'.[102] He felt Jackson's performance of 'Smooth Criminal' looked "incongruous, to say the least" and that "the hokey environmental visuals accompanying 'Earth Song' are even worse", and cited Beat It as being the movie's "only half-decent number".[102] Lumenick said that he was certain that a "perfectionist" like Jackson wouldn't want to have been remembered by a "shoddy piece of exploitation".[102] David Edwards, of Daily Mirror, stated that while he felt that the film is a "success" he overall disliked the film, having felt that "as an exercise in wringing every last penny from Jackson's legacy" the film "most certainly isn't it" a tribute.[103] Alex Fletcher, of Digital Spy described the film as having been an "essential viewing" and praised the film for showing "the real Michael Jackson"—which consisted of "difficult, odd, kind, obsessive and funny". He cited Jackson's best performances as "Thriller" and "Billie Jean" and the "worst material", "Earth Song".[15] However, Fletcher did feel that, while based on the rehearsal footage, Jackson "falls short of his groundbreaking 'Dangerous' and 'Bad' world tours", he noted that Jackson's age and thinness was mostly likely a factor in his performances and described Jackson as having more "star quality and charisma than a million Simon Cowell factory-line production pop singers".[104]

This Is It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on January 26, 2010. It sold over 1.5 million units in the U.S. alone within its first week of release, setting a new record for the first week sales of a music DVD.[105] By the end of 2010, in the US alone, DVD sales stood at 2.8 million, with gross earnings of $45 million.[106] The film was released on the same day in Japan, also breaking records, with $18 million in sales on the title's first day of release—$11.3 million in DVD and $6.7 million in Blu-ray—breaking Ponyo's record of $6.2 million.[107] In Ireland, the DVD became the joint-third best-selling music "record" in terms of units, going five-times Platinum by the end of 2010.[108]