Michael Jackson's "This Is It" Extends Theatrical Run After $101 Million Opening Week

After five days in theaters, Michael Jackson's This Is It grossed more than $101 million worldwide, making Sony's $60 million investment in the concert rehearsal footage profitable after only one week, Variety reports. Additionally, with no DVD due out until early 2010, Sony extended This Is It's two-week theatrical run by three weeks in North America, keeping the King of Pop in theaters through Thanksgiving.

Read our opening night review of This Is It.

In the days following This Is It's cinematic release on October 27th, Hollywood pundits argued whether the film was a hit or a disappointment based on early box-office projections. This Is It was expected to finish the week in the $30-40 million range in the U.S., and while final numbers put the film at the lower end of that prediction with a haul of $32.5 million, Halloween weekend has historically sapped box office receipts. However, This Is It dominated overseas, raking in $68.5 million in five days to top the foreign box office. Japan alone contributed $10.4 million, followed by $7.6 million from the U.K., Variety reports. This Is It also registered the fifth best international box office week of 2009.

See photos from Jackson's This Is It rehearsals.

This Is It's $32.5 million gross in the States was still enough to top the domestic box office, beating out made-for-Halloween fare like Paranormal Activity and Saw VI. This Is It also set the record for highest-grossing debut week by a concert film, just edging the $31.1 million record set by Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour in 2008. As Rolling Stone previously reported, the soundtrack for This Is It is also expected to place Number One on this week's Billboard Top 200.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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