Michael Jackson Movie, “This Is It”-Update
October 26th, 2009 | 
Author: The run of the Michael Jackson movie, THIS IS IT has been extended. To be honest, I was among those who had intended to wait until it was released on DVD but my wife and I saw it last night (the theater was approximately 1/4 full and the demos were surprising older) and we were both impressed and moved. I conducted a survey to learn if people were intending to see it in theaters during its run. Results are posted below.
Only 12% of those who took the survey planned to see the movie during its 2 week run. The remaining 88% were either not interested in Michael Jackson, have other priorities or they plan to see it when it’s released on DVD/on-demand (25%).
Here are some of our respondents’ comments:
“I saw it yesterday and I loved it. It was well done and Michael was without a doubt the ‘King’. I felt like I was at a concert. The atmosphere in the theatre was awesome.”
“…will probably wait till it comes out on video”
“It’s relevant to my profession, but I seldom have time to go see movies, and seldom do.”
Like many, I’ve been turned off by all the negative tabloid press concerning Michael during the past 20 years but seeing this documentary provided me with some perspective. Obviously, it was edited to portray Michael Jackson in the best light possible but it’s difficult to walk away after seeing this movie and to not be impressed by the man’s humanity, concern for others, dedication to his craft and his humility. The opening sequence of interviews with people auditioning to be part of Michael’s final concert tour is quite touching.
After seeing THIS IS IT, my former MTV colleague Chip Rachlin sent the following to friends in the music industry. Now that I’ve seen it, I’m in agreement with his assessment:
“I’m writing everyone to recommend you go see the Michael Jackson movie, “This Is It”. Most everybody on this list is somehow connected to the talent business. We’ve all been around talents, some great, and some, not so great. Michael Jackson’s talent has been in our lives for forty years. His talent for writing, recording and performing had been obscured the last decade by his talent to attract bad press and some not so terrific people in his life.
This movie, on an unprecedented level, reminds again, and again and again of the talent package that Michael Jackson was. This movie is neither maudlin nor even very emotional. It is a documentary of a show and a talent that we will never see, ever. It is a brilliant piece of PR for a guy who could use some good PR. He had a talent for attracting the wrong kind of press.
So go to this movie. Take your kids. Take your civilian friends who only know about the MJ that was in the tabloids the last ten years. More important, take yourself to remind you of the gold standard of talent.”
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