Michael Jackson movie to premiere in the world and South Africa at the same time
The single will be called “This is It” and comes out on Oct. 12, Jackson’s official Web Site said.
A two-disc album of the same title will be available internationally on Oct. 26 and North America on Oct. 27 through Sony Music Entertainment’s Columbia/Epic Label Group. The album contains music from the movie “Michael Jackson’s This is It,” which follows on Oct. 28.
Jackson, 50, who died in June, sold 750 million records worldwide in his lifetime and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time, according to Sony.
The film will show a rare, behind-the-scenes look of Jackson as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place beginning this summer in London’s O2 Arena. The film’s world gala will be in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on Tuesday, October 27.
That event, which begins at 6pm PDT, kicks off a series of more than 25 premieres around the globe. More than 15 cities, including New York, Rio De Janeiro, London, Berlin, Johannesburg, and Seoul will host event simultaneously, with red carpet arrivals and activities from the Los Angeles event broadcast by satellite to those cities. Other cities, including Moscow, Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, and many others will host their own, non-simultaneous premiere activities.
Chronicling the months from March through June, 2009, the film is produced with the full support of the Estate of Michael Jackson and drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show. Audiences will be given a privileged and private look at Jackson as he has never been seen before.“Michael Jackson has an army of fans everywhere around the world. By rolling out this film with simultaneous premieres and special advance screenings on October 27th, we are giving audiences an incredible opportunity to join together in celebration of Michael Jackson’s incredible career,” said Jeff Blake, chairman, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Sony Pictures.
The album’s first disc features the original masters of some of Jackson’s biggest hits arranged in the same order as they appear in the film, said Sony. The disc ends with two versions of “This is It,” with backing vocals by Michael’s brothers, the Jacksons. Disc two offers previously unreleased versions of Jackson songs. It also has a spoken word poem from the star entitled “Planet Earth” that has never been heard before.
The South African premiere will take place on Thursday 28 October at 3am at Ster-Kinekor Fourways Mall, Cavendish in Cape Town, Gateway in Durban and Sterland in Pretoria. Tickets will be sold at R200 each.
- additional reporting by Mark Beech
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