THIS IS IT--MICHAEL JACKSON

I JUST GOT HOLD OF A COPY OF JACKOS NEW FILM.......

THIS GUY WAS SUCH AN ARTIST.......AND SUCH A PERFECTIONIST TOO

it grossed £20 million in the uk on its first night.......i believe the total gross so far this week is £63million

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maybe like elvis,,he had more fans over here in the uk than in usa

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Fans of the late US performer Michael Jackson dance to the song "Thriller" prior to the screening of the movie "This Is It" in Moscow Wednesday.
ANNA SHEVELYOVA/AP
'This Is It': Michael Jackson's earnings boom
Michael Jackson's estate has reportedly earned $90 million since the entertainer's death in June – and "This Is It" may boost that number. But his estate's long-term value remains unclear.

By Gloria Goodale and Daniel B. Wood | Staff writers of The Christian Science Monitor
from the October 29, 2009 edition
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LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson made more money than Elvis Presley this year – $90 million versus $55 million, according to a Forbes report, boosted by a deal to use his name and likeness in his concert film "This Is It," which took in $2.2 million on its opening night Tuesday.

But will Mr. Jackson top the ranks of highest-earning celebrity estates ever, and will his untimely death make a difference? Outlook: cloudy, say the folks who have their finger on the money that trails the famous long after their passing.

Take for example the pop star's iconic sparkly white glove. It sold for nearly $70,000 in October. But, says Joe Maddalena, president of Profiles in History, the Hollywood memorabilia auction house that handled the sale, the man who owned the glove phoned him just prior to the performer's unexpected death in June to inquire about the glove's value.

"It was the same," Mr. Maddalena says, adding that it's far too early to calculate whether the singer will vault over legends such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, or Elvis Presley in long-term value.

Part of that uncertainty comes from the fact that the Jackson estate is reportedly mired in some $435 million in debt. It does have some powerful assets, however. Sales of Jackson's records have soared since his June 25 passing – 16 million albums and songs versus 300,000 in the first six months of the year. And lawyers and accountants say the biggest asset is Jackson's co-ownership of a catalogue that includes 250 Beatles' songs.

Jackson acquired ATV, including the Northern Songs catalog of 250 Beatles compositions, in 1985 for $47.5 million, merging it with Sony Music Publishing in 1995. Under the deal, Sony gave him a 50 percent stake in the merged company, which at the time was valued at about $500 million. Sources estimate that Sony/ATV is now valued at about $1.7 billion.

Moreover, says Darrell Miller, an entertainment attorney and partner in Fox Rothschild LLP, the artist's death has meant an end to what many observers called an out-of-control spending habit.

Jackson's lifestyle, which at one time included the personal theme park, Neverland, and the purchase of David O. Selznick's Oscar statuette for $1.5 million, reportedly ran a million-dollar deficit – per month.

"The general feeling about dead rock stars, and dead athletes for that matter, is that they are more financially successful in death than when they were alive," Mr. Miller says bluntly. "His cost of life was so high when he was alive, but now he's not consuming any more and the intellectual property all turns into gross revenues against debt."

The Jackson estate is similar to those of many performers, if not in scale, at least in potential sources of income, says Lewis Stark of Eisner LLP's Royalty and Contract Compliance group. For now, Mr. Stark says, revenues from everything including a reportedly lucrative, up-front deal on the documentary now in theaters, "This Is It," to the royalties on the songs he wrote as well as current and future merchandising deals will go to satisfy debts.

Long term, he adds, those revenues will accrue to make the estate profitable, providing the estate doesn't take on new debt.

Whether Jackson's troubled later years will mar the estate's value is another question entirely.

"Very few figures have this issue of child molestation lingering around their story," says Maddalena of the auction house. He expects that Jackson will continue to be an important figure in the history of pop music. But an all-time legend everyone wants to own? "Time will tell," he says.

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NEW YORK - According to studio estimates, late-night screenings of "Michael Jackson's This Is It" have earned $2.2 million at the North America box office.

Distributor Sony calls those results "unprecedented" for a Tuesday in October. The film chronicles Jackson's concert preparations for what would have been 50 comeback concerts in London.

"This Is It" opened in 99 countries and expanded its release Wednesday. Sony has already called Wednesday box office numbers "explosive" and says matinees alone have doubled Tuesday night's haul.

The film show Jackson preparing for a marathon concert stand in London that never happened.

The pop star died in June at age 50. His death has been ruled a homicide.

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LOS ANGELES - "Michael Jackson's This Is It" pulled in $101 million worldwide in its first five days, and distributor Sony is extending the farewell performance film beyond its planned two-week run.

The film was the No. 1 Halloween thriller domestically with a $21.3 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Paramount's low-budget horror sensation "Paranormal Activity," slipped to No. 2 with $16.5 million, lifting its total to $84.8 million.

"This Is It" raised its domestic total to $32.5 million. The movie pulled in $68.5 million overseas, including $10.4 million in Japan, $6.3 million in Germany, $5.8 million in France and $3.2 million in China.

"He's just loved everywhere on the planet," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "It doesn't matter if it's Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, South America. Every continent in the world loved him and his music."

In Great Britain, where Jackson had planned a marathon series of 50 London concerts starting last July, the movie earned $7.6 million.

"This Is It" captures Jackson in behind-the-scenes performances in the weeks before his death last June, as he rehearsed his biggest hits for the London shows.

"This Is It" originally was scheduled for a theatrical run of only two weeks. The studio has extended it a few more weeks domestically, leaving it in theaters through Thanksgiving weekend, one of the year's busiest moviegoing times.

Sony plans to extend the run of "This Is It" overseas on a country-by-country basis, with most territories probably getting one to three weeks of extra playing time, Bruer said.

The studio paid $60 million for film rights to Jackson's rehearsal footage, an investment the movie recouped in days.

"They bet $60 million on this and got $101 million in just five days," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It was a gamble and a bet that paid off."

The movie fell far short of last year's $31.1 million opening weekend domestically for " Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert." But Bruer said "This Is It" has a shot at surpassing the $65.3 million domestic total during the entire run of Cyrus' movie, which tops the all-time charts for music documentaries.

Worldwide, "This Is It" already has shot past Cyrus' concert film. Cyrus mainly appeals to American teens, and her movie got only a limited release overseas, where it took in about $5 million to give the film a global total of just over $70 million.

"This Is It" played in 3,481 theaters domestically, about five times the number for Cyrus' movie. But "Best of Both Worlds" ran in 3-D, for which theaters typically charge a few dollars more.

And Cyrus' young fans are an audience segment that tends to rush out to see movies over opening weekend, the movie doing nearly half its business in the first few days.

Sony hopes for a longer shelf life for "This Is It," which drew older crowds that catch movies on their own schedule, with less regard for the opening-weekend frenzy. Fans older than 25 accounted for 62 percent of the audience, according to Sony.

While "Paranormal Activity" led Halloween's scary movies, an established horror franchise lost its fear factor as Lionsgate's "Saw VI" fell sharply in its second weekend after an anemic debut.

"Saw VI" came in at No. 5 this weekend with $5.6 million, raising its total to just $22.8 million after 10 days. Previous sequels in the serial-killer series all had topped $30 million during opening weekend alone.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com; final figures will be released Monday:

1. "Michael Jackson's This Is It," $21.3 million.

2. "Paranormal Activity," $16.5 million.

3. "Law Abiding Citizen," $7.3 million.

4. "Couples Retreat," $6.1 million.

5. "Saw VI," $5.6 million.

6. "Where the Wild Things Are," $5.1 million.

7. "The Stepfather," $3.4 million.

8. "Astro Boy," $3.04 million.

9. "Amelia," $3 million.

10. "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant," $2.8 million.

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how can anyone call it a flop,,,hahahahahaha

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well said vix,, you just said what i was thinking

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