One of the biggest movies of the year may be a film that wasn’t even on the 2009 schedule.
Sony Pictures Entertainment is reporting an “unprecedented number of sell-outs worldwide” for the first showings on “Michael Jackson’s This Is It”. There have been record-breaking sales of tickets for the film, which opens Oct. 28 (with previews shows on the 27th).
The movie is only scheduled to run for 2-weeks, but chances are it will stay in theaters much longer than that if the tickets remain hot. The studio is apparently planning on showing “This Is It” in IMAX format the first week only. I saw the trailer before “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” on Monday in an IMAX theater, but the trailer wasn’t in IMAX.
According to a Sony news release, hundreds of U.S. shows sold out on the first day of ticket sales, and the studio is saying that no movie in history has generated more ticket sales around the world so far in advance of it release. More than $1 Million is tickets have been sold in Japan so far.
The film is a collection of songs, clips and interviews from the rehearsals that Jackson was doing in preparation for his concert tour that was scheduled to begin this summer. If you’re planning on going, especially the first weekend, I suggest you get your tickets NOW.