Wednesday, October 28

• Kenny Ortega on Michael Jackson and This Is It

  This Is It opens nation-wide today, and Cinema Blend recently caught up with director Kenny Ortega to chat about the completion of this landmark project and his relationship with Michael Jackson.

  Originally, Ortega was the man behind the This Is It stage show that Jackson had planned in London. Plans, of course, changed when Jackson died suddenly on June 25. Ortega recalled the moment he heard the tragic news:

  I received a telephone call from one of our promoters that said Michael in fact had died. I made him repeat it three times because I thought that I was hearing voices. It didn't feel real.... It just felt like everything inside of me, like a building collapsed, the foundation. Everything inside of me just collapsed like a bomb had dropped.

  Jackson's death left Ortega with 80 hours of footage from rehearsals, which he then drew from to create This Is It.

  Most of that was film footage that Michael and I had produced for special content to appear in the concert. Part of it was behind the scenes, extensive interviews with everybody behind the scenes, the sets going up, the show being built and then part of it were these cameras that were capturing rehearsals. They might do an enhanced, a bigger version, an extended version someday but I do know that the DVD that's coming out next year has a tremendous, weighty additional footage.

  He went on to talk about the genesis of the project, and also the process of working with Jackson during rehearsals. From what Ortega says, he and Jackson had a very amicable yet productive and challenging working relationship. He also expressed a deep sadness and a painful sense of closure regarding the completion of the project.

  Handing the movie off at the beginning of October and saying, "Here –" was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do. It really was like giving a child away. That was the first time that I was taken aback, realizing that this was really the end of something. Now it's just about how do we turn this all around and make it mean something and make it worth something, keep his messages alive, do the work that he is no longer here to do and hopefully this film helps a little bit.

  
  

  Posted 10/28/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Michael Jackson | Kenny Ortega | Michael Jackson's: This Is It

Monday, September 28

• Michael Jackson's This Is It Clip, Advance Tickets Sell Out in Two Hours

  MTV Movies reports that the 3,000 tickets to the Los Angeles advance screenings of This Is It sold out on Sunday within two hours of going on sale.

  Last week, Sony announced that a select group of cities will get a chance to view This Is It on October 27, one day before the movie's scheduled wide release. Things will start with a premiere at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, followed three hours later by screenings in New York, Rio de Janeiro, London, Berlin, Johannesburg, and Seoul. The event at the Nokia theater will also be broadcast via satellite.

  The movie, being directed by High School Musical helmer Kenny Ortega, draws on more than 80 hours of footage from Michael Jackson's rehearsals for his This Is It tour, which he was preparing for when he died in late June. The movie will have a two-week run, including the advance screenings.

  A clip from the movie has already surfaced, which shows Jackson rehearsing his performance for "Human Nature." You can view the clip below.

  
  

  Posted 09/28/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Michael Jackson | Kenny Ortega | Michael Jackson's: This Is It

Monday, September 14

• Trailer Released for Michael Jackson's This Is It

  Last night at the MTV Music Video Awards, the trailer for Michael Jackson's This Is It premiered. Due in theaters October 28, the movie is being directed by High School Musical helmer Kenny Ortega. It draws on more than 80 hours of footage from Michael Jackson's rehearsals for his This Is It tour, which he was preparing for when he died in late June.

  We've now got the online version. See it below.

  
  

  Posted 09/14/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Michael Jackson | Kenny Ortega | Michael Jackson's: This Is It

Friday, June 26

• Bruno Drops LaToya Jackson Scene from Premiere -- and Theatrical Release

  His brand is controversy and outrage. But in this case, even Sacha Baron Cohen thought it would be going too far. Following the sudden death of Michael Jackson on Thursday, footage involving an unsuspecting LaToya Jackson, which had been included in press screenings earlier this week, was cut from last night's premiere of Brüno.

  In the scene, reportedly a setup similar to his ambush of Paula Abdul, Cohen's character Brüno creates a pretext to get Michael's number from her Blackberry. UPDATE: The scene will be cut from the theatrical release, as well.

  Otherwise, the premiere went off in his typical over-the-top fashion, with Cohen arriving in character and in style at Grauman's Chinese Theatre straddling a gun turret on top of a glittery tank.

  Later that night, he took things even further with Conan O'Brien. The clearly nervous talk-show host asked Brüno to show off his dance moves, but was still unprepared for just how up close and personal that would turn out to be.

  
  

  Posted 06/26/2009 by Bill

  Related: Sacha Baron Cohen | Michael Jackson | Paula Abdul | Conan O'Brien | La Toya Jackson | Bruno