Dunno if you heard, but a concert documentary, starring a little-known performer who died recently, opened across the country at 12:01 this morning.
This performer, Michael Jackson, would likely have been plagued by scandal through much of his adult life had anyone actually heard of him, so perhaps it’s just as well.
To Sony’s credit, This Is It does not feel like a quickie cash-in on Jackson’s death. A bit over-adulatory perhaps, but that’s to be expected. It must be said, however, that Jackson’s death casts a pall over the movie’s early proceedings; to me, his fake cleft chin and overly manufactured nose make his face look like melted wax, his voice occasionally lilts – not in a good way – and some of his dance moves look robotic.
But as time passes, the rehearsals have an obvious effect on him; his dancing becomes smoother, his singing becomes stronger, and he appears to become younger. Performing came as naturally to Jackson as breathing, and while his voice occasionally disappears, he’s never off-key (and explains more than once that he’s trying to save his vocal cords), and every number yields enthusiastic applause from the gathered technicians and back-up dancers.
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High School Musical director Kenny Ortega has stepped down as director of the planned remake of Footloose, citing issues with the tone and budget of the film, reports E! News. This comes after Zac Efron also bailed on the project.
Ortega’s latest endeavour, This is It, a behind-the-scenes concert film about the late Michael Jackson, hits North American theatres Wednesday.
“Coming off of the extraordinary project, Michael Jackson’s This is It, director Kenny Ortega has decided it is premature for him to commit to his next film and will not be moving forward with Footloose as previously reported,” Paramount Pictures said in a statement.
The film will star Chace Crawford and Julianne Hough, and is still planned to begin production in March.
An early screening of This Is It in Los Angeles sold out of the 3,000 available tickets in two hours, reports CBC. Another early screening is planned for Oct. 27 at the Regal Cinemas Stadium 14 in Los Angeles. The film opens in theatres Oct. 28 for two weeks only.
In London, 30,000 tickets to the film were sold in the first 24 hours of sales, while $1 million American worth of tickets were purchased in one day in Japan.
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A deal involving Sony Pictures, to acquire rehearsal footage from Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” concert rehearsal is being finalized. According to Variety, the distribution company hopes to give the film a theatrical release this Halloween.
It has been reported that Sony is paying approximately $60 million for 80 hours of rehearsal footage of Jackson. The footage currently belongs to AEG Entertainment, the company responsible for promoting Jackson’s 50 shows in London.
Kenny Ortega will reportedly assemble the movie which Sony plans to released on October 30, according to MTV News. The “High School Musical” director shot the original footage. According to Variety, the rehearsal film will feature “at least three” videos, and one of them could be an alternative version of Jackson’s hit “Thriller.
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CEO of AEG Live Randy Phillips — the Los Angeles-based concert promoter of the now-canceled This is It London concert series that would be Michael Jackson’s last tour — told Sky News he would like to see a musical tribute to Jackson.
“This show was beyond anything, the technology, the size of the show,” Phillips said. “It was Michael Jackson. It was bigger than anything else could ever have been, it was beautiful and amazing, and he was amazing in it. [Concert director] Kenny [Ortega] and I have discussed this. At some point, the world needs to see this production. And I would imagine if we could do it, it would be done as a tribute, with the family, with the brothers performing and the sisters and other stars who loved Michael and were influenced by him.”
It has been reported that AEG has over 100 hours of footage from show rehearsals, including Jackson’s final run-through that was completed hours before his death.
