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Monday
28Sep2009

Michael Jackson Documentary Shatters Sales Records

DateMonday, September 28, 2009 at 11:22AM
The Michael Jackson concert documentary, This is It, opens on Wedensday, October 28th, and pre-sale tickets - a misnomer if ever there was one - were made available yesterday. You'd expect this to do really well, but Sony reports that the film is shattering records around the world.

Over the last 24 hours, 80% of all Fandango and Movietickets.com sales have been for This is It, and it has already sold out in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Nashville and New York, among others. "Internationally, exhibitors from London and Sydney to Bangkok and Tokyo have experienced the same epic demand," said the studio in a press release.

London saw 30,000 tickets sold in 24 hours, breaking the marks of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, and in Tokyo over a million dollars worth of tickets have already been sold.

Sony is taking a unique approach with this film, keeping it in theaters only for two weeks. That will drive some of this demand, although if you look at Jackson's album sales after his death, you wouldn't have to make a big leap in logic to see this kind of activity coming.

Here are a couple more figures straight from the studio:

"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. In Bangkok, Thailand, fans lined up at box office ticket counters throughout the city, and by the end of the first day, all tickets for the first showings across Bangkok were sold-out."

I wonder what all of this will mean for the opening weekend. How high can this movie go in five days (remember, it's a Wednesday opening) and how much money can it make in two weeks? I don't even want to put a number to it yet, but I wouldn't laugh off $75 million in its debut. We'll be able to make a better guess when the theatrical numbers are released - is it in 3,000 or 4,000 houses? - but I think we're going to see a weekend full of sell-outs in the states and around the world.

But pre-sale figures can be misleading. All that really means is that for the available seats, X amount are being sold. Nobody's putting a row of folding chairs in theaters. The seats are the seats no matter when the tickets are sold. In other words, a pre-sale record in the opening weekend doesn't mean a record opening weekend.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment5 Comments |

Reader Comments (5)

This is what I wanted from this movie record breaking sales although it's early to say it will break record but I am excited to see that people still have interest in michale jackson.I simply love his music and I am a great fan of his work sure now I am on my way to buy tickets or if not available will buy it on dvd defenitely

Monday, September 28, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterjoe

Hey Joe, try using a period or comma once in a while, whadaya say?

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterChris

screw mj

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterandrew

Mj the king forever

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterBrian

The man is legendary no matter what haters say , screw you andrew. Mj forever

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterlewis

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