The new documentary/concert film Michael Jackson’s This Is It is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine, which got an early look at the film and offers an exclusive preview (with photos) in this week’s issue of EW. Here is the coverphoto and some of what we can expect in the coverstory article:
When tickets for Michael Jackson’s This Is It went on sale on Sept. 27, hundreds of shows around the globe sold out in less than 24 hours, without anyone knowing quite what it even was — a concert movie? A documentary? “It’s somewhere in between,” says Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal of the film, which consists of behind-the-scenes footage of Jackson rehearsing for his planned comeback concerts at London’s O2 arena. “It’s a movie about rehearsing for a concert that never happened. It’s heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. It gives you chills.” Now, with the October 28th worldwide release of the movie fast approaching, the late pop star’s collaborators open up about working with Jackson during his precarious last days. At age 50 Jackson hadn’t toured in more than a decade, but while his team worried at times about his health, his imagination was as active as ever. In fact, as the production got under way, it quickly became clear that Jackson’s creative ambitions for the concerts were beyond anything he’d ever attempted. With the budget already past $24 million, Jackson told his team he wanted to recreate one of the world’s largest waterfalls — Victoria Falls in southern Africa — on the stage. “I was ready to jump off the balcony of my office,” says Randy Phillips, president of the concert promotion firm AEG Live. “We went and met with Michael, and [director] Kenny [Ortega] said, ‘Michael, you’ve got to stop. We’ve got an incredible show, we don’t need any more vignettes.’ Michael said, ‘But Kenny, God channels this through me at night. I can’t sleep because I’m so supercharged.’ Kenny said, ‘But Michael, we have to finish. Can’t God take a vacation?’ Without missing a beat, Michael said, ‘You don’t understand — if I’m not there to receive these ideas, God might give them to Prince.’”
Aww … I love the Prince bit … I hope that this new film will also feature some of this side of Michael Jackson that we, the public, didn’t get to see. Even as a lukewarm MJ fan, I am growing increasingly more anxious to see this film as each day passes. But, I have come to realize that no matter how amazing the This Is It show looks on screen, it cannot match how amazing it would’ve looked live in person. But … something is better than nothing … I can’t wait to see this film.
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In the Rolling Stone article they talked about Michael’s intense jealousy of Prince, and how his competition with him was part of the how this all played out. Apparently the number of shows he was scheduled to perform was meant to out do Prince (Prince did 21 shows at O2 arena, so Michael had to do more, etc.). It is kind of odd, because I don’t think the public ever looked at the two men as “either/or”. You could be a Prince fan and an MJ fan, as they both were very talented in different ways and had a lot to offer musically. Anyway, it was just an article, so who knows if it reflected reality.
@ Krissy: I was never aware of that! You’re right, I don’t think people looked at it as either/or at all. But, now that you mention it, I guess I can sort of see how MJ might think that? I dunno….that is pretty funny that he made that comment, although in the context of your information it seems more like it was meant to be taken seriously and is really sad.
LAME! and there go all the suckers to see this crap. I”M 100% certainly MJ wouldn’t have liked it. SHAME ON YOU
i thought MJ was refering to his son Prince here?