The rumor being spread around the blog-o-net today is a mighty hard pill to swallow for me. Deadline Hollywood’s Nikki Finke has heard it through a reliable grapevine that AEG execs, the concert promoter responsible for Michael Jackson’s incomplete This Is It tour, are expecting MJ’s rehearsal footage movie of the same title to earn, get this, “$250 million in its first 5 days!”
Now I’m sorry, I just can’t see that happening. Let’s remember these people are promoters so it’s their job to build the hype surrounding their client’s products to get us to take the bait and spend our money.
When Nikki Finke brought this rumor of $250 million in five days to her Sony source she received this fascinating response:
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“I don’t know what they’re talking about. That would be bigger than Spider-Man and Harry Potter. It’s an event, but it’s still a movie.”
People, it’s not just Spider-man and Harry Potter we are talking about, let me give you a quick list of the top ten highest 5-day grossing movies in history, as per Box Office Mojo:
$203 Million – The Dark Knight
$200 Million – Transformers 2
$173 Million – Star Wars Episode III
$169 Million – Pirates of the Caribbean 2
$170 Million – Spider-Man 3
$159 Million – Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
$153 Million – Spider-Man 2
$152 Million – Indiana Jones 4
$148 Million – Pirates of the Caribbean 3
$140 Million – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Those are some great movies in that list right there and AEG thinks they are going to beat ALL OF THEM, including The Dark Knight, by more than $25 million? I hardly think so.
Now we have to remember that all the above box office numbers are domestic gross only and This Is It will be released domestically and internationally on the same day. Also, This Is It will be released in 3D, which means an extra four to five dollars for the “privilege” of seeing the movie in the latest technology; that is something the current top ten 5-day grossers didn’t have at their disposal. Their numbers are representative of regular and IMAX sales only.
Now granted, This Is It will obviously be a HUGE money maker for Sony and AEG, even though they aren’t in it for the money *cough B.S. cough*. Lines outside of theaters around the world were long on ticket day and theaters sold out of advanced tickets minutes after opening them for sale. Fandango, the number one online ticket sales website, reports This Is It has sold out 1000 theaters already, representing 27% of all ticket sales on its site, and is currently out pacing Hannah Montana 3-D, 2-1 for the same marketing cycle (two weeks before release).
OK, so those are impressive numbers but comparing the movie to Hannah Montana 3-D sales and The Dark Knight sales are two COMPLETELY different things. Hannah Montana isn’t even on the top 100 5-day grossing movies and topped out at $70 million worldwide. Now those numbers I could believe and to be honest those would be very respectable numbers for This Is It to bring in. AEG says that the movie is “already $5 million in the black even after Sony Pictures paid $60 million for the movie rights.” So anything else it brings in at this point is all gravy anyway.
Continue reading for opening day info…
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21 Comments
Gravy unless your Sony and then you want your 60 million back!!
It’s not even getting a wide wide release. No way it pulls $200 mil in its entire domestic run! Lies Lies Lies! Oh yeah and MJ sucks.
I think it will make a huge amont of money. Unfortunately, people still support this scumbag.
@Danny Boy – If 11,000 theaters isn’t your defination of a wie wide release then I don’t know what to tell you. In the US alone it will be on over 3000 screens.
lol 250 r u kiddin me come on guys. i predict 125million in the first week and i bet it will make way more on foregin screens for sure.
Sure, it will be big, but bigger than The Dark Knight or Spiderman 2? These people need to stop drinking. MJ has billions of fans but he also has just as many haters. Because of that, it will come no where near TDK nor SM.
yeah right it’ll gross big, i used to love mj,but ever since he died thats when people started respecting him again,when he should’ve gotten the respect he deserved afterwards in his life,damn lies there pulling on us,screw this film, mj wouldn’t even want this crap to happen
I’m sorry, but even in death, Michael Jackson just won’t go the frak away.
It won’t see any of my money.
There is no way that this film does $250 mil. For the life of me I can’t understand why so many people idolize(d) this pedophile. He was a dirtbag right to the end and now all the sheeple are going to be filling the coffers of Sony. Sheesh.
You saw how many went to the memorial or at least wanted to..
It wouldn’t surprise me seeing the effect he had on people world wide who don’t speak a word of English or could even afford to buy one of his albums.
I of course am NOT one of those people. He was only a month older than me but he has never done anything for me, ever.
Unless they charge and stupid amount for the tickets to this movie, I don’t see it making anywhere near that much, but I do see it doing amazingly well. Remember, his final tour sold out in mere hours and this movie is really for the die hard fans (and whoever gets dragged along). It’s only coming out for 2 weeks, so unless it sucks as a documentary, it’ll do well those two weeks, but I’m thinking maybe $250 million after it’s entire run, not the first five days.
Then again, I could be very wrong.
Seriously. What’s the one thing all the highest grossing movies have in common? They’re sequels. What’s the second thing most of them have in common? They’re fanboy movies.
Every last one of them is part of some big, popular franchise that had already made a ton of money long before the movies ever even went into production.
This MJ thing isn’t even a movie. It’s a concert/documentary thing. And yeah, MJ has his fans, but they’re not as ravenous as the comic book lovers.
This thing won’t even make 200mil in its entire run.
Give me a break!! Michael Jackson is alright, but compared to The Dark Knight? No way. Batman beats MJ any day of the week in ANY competition, be it box office sales or just being a good movie. It’ll make a lot of money, but it’s not the number 1 movie on my list to see.
I’d rather see a 5 hour concert from mj before having to see the dark knight again…
Wow if the headline hadn’t been obscure I would have never clicked the thread.
let’s not forget, 75 million records
no way no how
No,,,,,
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