MICHAEL JACKSON could land an Oscar for his performance in This Is It, the movie of his concert rehearsals that has opened to huge success in London and other cities around the world this week.
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The film’s director, Kenny Ortega, said Jackson “deserved” an Oscar and the movie’s studio, Sony Pictures, confirmed they would be putting it forward to the committee that decides these things.
In its first day of business, This Is It took £1.2M in the UK, the bulk of that in London, which represents a fair old chunk of the £12M earned around the globe.
“The studio believes that the worldwide launch, with very strong performance across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia, represents an amazing beginning and a reaffirmation of the global appeal of Michael Jackson,” said Steve Elzer of Sony Pictures.
The movie has also received generally positive reviews and it is now expected Sony will extend its release beyond the original two-week schedule.
London’s big ticket sales for The This Is It can be partly explained by the fact it is based on Jackson’s last rehearsals for the series of concerts he was due to play at the O2, before he died in June. The Greenwich venue hasn’t been left out of the Jacko commemorations; tickets are being snapped up for the O2’s exhibition on the life of the tragic star.
