“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” – the concert film depicting the King of Pop’s dress rehearsals – took in $101 million worldwide in its first five days. So it should come as no surprise distributor Sony is extending the movie’s theater run.
Originally planned to play a limited, two-week engagement in movie theatres, Sony will now extend the schedule up to a few extra weeks, depending on demand in individual countries.
So far, the demand has made the film a thriller at the box office with a $21.3 million opening weekend in the U.S., making it the No. 1 Halloween flick. Add that to what the film had already taken in domestically, and “This Is It” is up to 32.5 million in the U.S.
Overseas figures were equally impressive, 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.”
However, “This Is It” didn’t reach the opening-weekend benchmark established by last year’s “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” flick, which made $31.1 million during its first weekend of release in 2008.