Michael Jackson's This Is It is a 2009 American musical documentary film about Michael Jackson's preparation for This Is It, a planned concert residency that was cancelled due to his death in 2009. Released four months after Jackson's death, the film features behind-the-scenes footage of rehearsals and related preparations for the concerts. The film was directed by Kenny Ortega, the show director of the cancelled concerts, who confirmed that none of the footage was originally intended for release; however, after Jackson's death, an agreement was made between This Is It concert promoter AEG Live and the Michael Jackson Estate to produce the film. The footage was filmed in Los Angeles, primarily at the Staples Center and The Forum.
The film was given a worldwide release and a limited two-week theatrical run from October 28 to November 12, 2009, but the theatrical release was later extended for an additional three weeks in domestic theaters and one to three weeks in overseas markets. Tickets went on sale a month early on September 27 to satisfy a high anticipated demand; the film broke numerous pre-sale and box office records.
The release of the film attracted controversy, much of which centered on claims that it exploited Jackson's death, and that AEG Live released the film primarily to recoup losses from the cancelled concerts. Multiple members of the Jackson family spoke out against the film, with some attempting to prevent its release. The film was also the subject of allegations that body doubles had been used in place of Jackson, claims that Sony denied. Additionally, it faced backlash from some of Jackson's fans, some of whom organized protests against the film. In August 2009, a judge approved a deal among Michael Jackson Estate executors John Branca and John McClain, AEG Live, and Sony Pictures, allowing Sony to edit hundreds of hours of rehearsal footage to create the film; Sony subsequently paid $60 million for the film rights.
The film received generally positive reviews from critics; the portrayal of Jackson and his performances were generally praised. Despite the controversy, the ticket sales for This Is It broke international records a month before its release. It made $267.9 million worldwide, and it is listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-grossing documentary film at the global box office. By the end of 2010, the DVD sales for This Is It stood at 2.8 million units, with gross earnings of $45 million in the US alone. In Japan, This Is It earned $18 million in sales on the title's first day of release with 358,000 combined DVD sales.
Summary The film begins with a short text introduction stating the purpose of the footage and its intent "For the fans...". After short dialogues from various dancers, Kenny Ortega is heard talking through the original concert opening sequence involving a bodysuit made from screens that display fast clips and images with bright intensity from which Jackson emerges on stage. Immediately after this, Jackson begins "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" first solo, which pauses halfway through and a small snippet of Jackson singing his song "Speechless" Acappella is shown. Jackson is then joined by dancers and completes the first number. A short clip showing rehearsals of the "toaster" mechanism is shown before rehearsal footage of "Jam" is played. This plays directly into the green screen adaptation of soldiers dancers for "Bad" which are also used for "They Don't Care About Us" which is shown next. From here, the film shows Michael directing Ortega and his band for his solo rehearsal performance of "Human Nature" which he performs Acappella, then with keyboard, and finally with a full band. Green screen rehearsals for the video vignette for "Smooth Criminal" come next (with scenes from his film Moonwalker as well as the film Gilda featuring Rita Hayworth singing "Put the Blame on Mame"). Jackson is seen next directing his musical team for the cues in his song "The Way You Make Me Feel". Jackson then performs a rehearsal with dancers which he alters and changes as he goes. Jackson then rehearses a medley of The Jackson 5 songs: "I Want You Back", "The Love You Save", "I'll Be There" and "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)". After this, Jackson sings with Judith Hill, one of his backup singers, on his duet song "I Just Can't Stop Loving You". The filming for the "Thriller" vignette is then shown with Jackson and Ortega watching with 3D glasses. Jackson is then seen rehearsing "Thriller" with the vignette intertwined like that in "Smooth Criminal". Footage of the show's aerialists rehearsing to the instrumental of "Who Is It" is shown next.
During the dance sequence, puppets are suspended in the audience aisles while Jackson emerges from a robotic spider originally seen in the vignette. Jackson and Ortega rehearsing the cherry picker is seen next, along with Jackson rehearsing "Beat It". Footage of Jackson and the band rehearsing "Black or White" is shown next, with guitarist Orianthi Panagaris finishing with a high guitar riff. The video sequence for "Earth Song" is shown next, featuring a little girl who wanders through a forest, falls asleep, and wakes up to find the forest destroyed by man. He then performs a quick version of his song "Billie Jean". Michael is then seen talking to all crew members and wishing everyone the best for the London performances. At a soundcheck, Michael performs "Man in the Mirror" with strong backing vocals. The credits are shown next, with a montage of rehearsal clips and "This Is It" being played in the background. After the show, a live recording of "Heal the World" was played. Then, the audio of "Human Nature" was played, with a clip of Michael rehearsing it in early June (the 3D screen was not set up yet). Then, a clip of what could have been a Dome Project video of "Heal the World" was shown, in which the girl that appeared in the "Earth Song" video was shown holding the world and a signed message, by Michael, saying "I Love You".
Background
On March 5, 2009, at the O2 Arena, Jackson announced that he was to perform 10 concerts as part of a comeback. On March 11, two days before pre-sale began, an extra 40 dates were added to meet high demand, bringing the number of shows to 50 — five of these dates were reserved in their entirety for the public sale. Jackson's 50 dates would have made the concerts the longest residency at the arena. In May 2009, the tour was originally set to have begun on July 8, 2009, and finished on February 24, 2010.
On May 20, 2009, it was announced that the first concert would be pushed back by five days to July 13, and three other July dates would be rescheduled for March 2010. AEG Live stated that the delay was necessary because more time was needed to prepare, mainly for dress rehearsals. The revised schedule called for 27 shows between July 13 and September 29, 2009, followed by a three-month break, and resuming in 2010, with 23 more shows between January 7 and March 6, 2010. The This Is It concert tour would have been Jackson's first major performances and series of concerts since the HIStory World Tour that began in 1996 and finished in 1997. In preparation for the concerts, Jackson had been collaborating with multiple well known and high-profile figures, such as Kenny Ortega, who would have served as his choreographer. On June 29, 2009, only days after Jackson's death, AEG Live, the concert's promoter, offered ticket holders two choices—to either be refunded the money for their tickets or to keep the tickets as a souvenir and memento by receiving the printed ticket that Jackson had designed himself.
Music
The album, This Is It, was released on October 26 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart with the sales of over 373,000 in its first week of release. The two-disc album features music 'that inspired the movie'. Sony said of the albums that: "Disc one will feature the original album masters of some of Michael's biggest hits arranged in the same sequence as they appear in the film" and stated that "the disc ends with two versions of the 'never-released' "This Is It". This song is featured in the film's closing sequence and includes backing vocals by Michael Jackson's brothers, The Jacksons." Sony also stated that the second disc will feature "previously unreleased versions" from Jackson's 'catalogue of hits' and that It will also include a spoken word poem entitled "Planet Earth" (which originally appeared in the liner notes of the Dangerous album) and a 36-page commemorative booklet with "photos of Michael [Jackson] from his last rehearsal".
Set list "Glimpses and Flashes" (introduction) "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (contains a cappella snippet of "Speechless") "Jam" (contains excerpts of "Another Part of Me") "The Drill" (contains excerpts of "Bad", "Dangerous" and "Mind Is the Magic") "They Don't Care About Us" (contains elements of "HIStory", "She Drives Me Wild" and "Why You Wanna Trip on Me") "Human Nature" "Smooth Criminal" "The Way You Make Me Feel" "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (Band Interlude) ´´Jackson 5 Medley "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (duet with Judith Hill) "Thriller" (contains excerpts of "Ghosts" and "Threatened") "Beat It" "Black or White" "Earth Song" "Billie Jean" "Man in the Mirror" "This Is It" (closing sequence)
Production The film's director and choreographer, Ortega, stated that the rehearsal footage and concept of making a film to document the preparation of the concerts had come about as "an accident". Ortega stated the film was pieced together from "private footage" shot by documentarians Sandrine Orabona and Tim Patterson of Jackson and the concerts crew rehearsing and that before Jackson's death, was never intended to be released. "The recordings were made so we could use them, then the tapes were destined for Michael [Jackson]'s private library. They have a real unguarded honesty to them." Ortega stated that he had gotten the idea to use the rehearsal footage from Jackson's fans after his death: "At first I got so many messages from fans around the world asking to see the shows, asking to see the footage and eventually I realized the journey wasn't over and we had to do this", and Ortega also stated that the film was made only for the Jackson fans: "[The film] is for the fans and the film will show the development and intentions of the show, and the concert as it moved closer to London."