It's no secret right now that the Michael Jackson concert documentary This Is It has become one of this month's biggest advance ticket sellers. Up until recently here on Fandango, This Is It was leading the pack in ticket sales, outpacing not only this week's new releases, but also Hannah Montana 3D, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek at this same point in the film's sales cycle.
Pretty big, yes, but how big? Eager to see demand for the film skyrocket, concert promoter AEG is predicting an astronomical haul of $250 million in the film's first five days of release. Heck, people love Michael Jackson, sure, but only guys like Spider-Man and Harry Potter pull those kinds of numbers. There's no possible way that many people will storm theaters to watch Michael Jackson rehearsal footage…right?
As it stands right now, This Is It will open on October 27th for some select special showings before rolling out nationwide in over 3,000 theaters on October 28th. While AEG insists that the concert film will only be in theaters for a limited two-week run, sources have told Deadline Hollywood that there are already plans to bring the film back at a later date…perhaps to try to get it some Oscar buzz (stop laughing).
So here's where we ask you for your expert opinion. How much do you really think this film is going to make? Let's go with AEG's five-day estimate of $250 million as a starting point, and vote in our poll below to let us know what the real five-day number will be.
