Jackson film This is It earns £12m on opening day

Fri Oct 30 2009 13:07:04

The Michael Jackson film This is It earned more than 20 million dollars (£12.1 million) at worldwide box offices on its first day in cinemas.

Fans around the globe turned out in force for the documentary, which shows the late pop star rehearsing for a series of comeback concerts before his death in June.

Sony Pictures said the film made 7.4 million dollars (£4.4 million) in the United States and 2 million (£1.2 million) in the UK.

The studio has only just begun to profit from This is It. While the film has been released for a limited two week run, it is plausible that Sony will extend its stay in theaters.

At least that is the hope for the film's director, Kenny Ortega: "We're hoping that perhaps if there's a real audience out there that is curious and interested and desiring to see this, that we might be able to have an extended run."

In addition to box office profits, Sony will also likely reap millions from the sale of DVDs. While no DVD release date has been announced yet, Ortega said that it will have footage that any Jackson fan will surely want to scoop up.

"What you are going to get in the bonus material with the DVD is a number of really jam-packed hours of more behind the scenes, more interviews, more of Michael."

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