First Shot: Correction: This not it

Looks like the murmurmings of rival studio heads were not mere wishful thinking. The international opening-day take of Michael Jackson’s This Is It was indeed “solid but not spectacular” – or even “weaker than expected,” depending on how gingerly you like to phrase your eulogies. 

That’s quite a comeuppance indeed, given all the pre-release flummery we had to endure about Germans queuing up overnight outside theaters (in neat and orderly lines, one presumes), and the Chinese government momentarily suspending tank maneuvers so young people could get to screenings. Remember, the international arena has long been the ace in the hole of American acts like Jackson – an entertainment-starved, eternally forgiving marketplace that’ll still embrace them long after they’ve fucked up their lives by doing something outrageously stupid, like fondling youngsters or persisting in being Jerry Lewis.

So if Belgium isn’t declaring a national viewing holiday, what does that leave for the hometown crowd? Not much. The picture’s domestic take is now on track to come in at only slightly more than half of what was predicted. The only hope is that one of Nikki Finke’s innumerable sources is wrong about Halloween “killing Saturday,” and that hipsters will instead pass up Paranormal Activity, Saw VI and at-home games of Ouija Beer Pong to take in what is clearly the year’s best-reviewed zombie movie.

At least Sony gets to take the high road: In two weeks, it can pull this “limited release” from theaters as announced, with all the moral rectitude of Pee-Wee Herman declaring, “I meant to do that.” After that, I think we all know what the score is: This guy’s career is dead.

Posted by Steve Schneider on 10/30/2009 4:20:33 PM Permalink | Comments: 0

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