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

Tuesday, August 11

• It's Official: The Michael Jackson Movie Is a Go

  A few weeks ago, Sony acquired the rights to some 80 hours of rehearsal footage showing Michael Jackson preparing for his upcoming 10-concert London run. (The "This Is It" concerts were part of a comeback, which Jackson was planning before his death on June 25.) After putting up an initial $50 million dollar bid against Paramount and Universal, Sony finally landed the footage for a $60 million payment to AEG Live and the Michael Jackson estate.

  Variety reports that on Monday, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge approved the deal. Sony will move forward with This Is It, which has a scheduled release date of October 30. Kenny Ortega, who directed High School Musical, will helm the project, and Randy Phillips and Paul Gongaware of AEG Live will co-produce.

  Select portions of the movie will be in 3-D. Sony Pictures chairman-CEO Michael Lynton spoke briefly about the project:

  This historic recording of the last time [Jackson] sang and danced on stage shows the legendary artist in an incredibly powerful way, with crystal clear images and sound.

  
  

  Posted 08/11/2009 by Rich Z

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

Wednesday, July 11

• Movie Dealz

  Footloose, Superman, and Dracula - Oh My!

  In today's dealz...

  ...Paramount will be doing a musical remake of Footloose (a la the musical remake of Hairspray that comes out next week). Movie musical crowned prince Zac Efron (High School Musical, Hairspray) is in talks to star as Ren McCormack (i.e. Kevin Bacon's part) and Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) is in talks to direct...

  ...A film adaptation of journalist Toby Young's amusing memoir about his time at Vanity Fair, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, is being made by British film company Number 9 Films. It will star Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges as Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, and will be directed by Bob Weide (Curb Your Enthusiasm)...

  ...Animated French feature Persepolis will be given a new cast to do an English language version. The cartoon, which is based on the bestselling graphic novel about Marjane Satrapi's experience growing up during the Iranian revolution of 1979 will include Sean Penn, Iggy Pop, Gena Rowlands, and Catherine Deneuve...

  ...There's a bevy of Dracula films swirling about town, including Dracula Year Zero, which will be about Vlad the Impaler--the Romanian royal who inspired the whole dracula myth to begin with. Alex Proyas (I, Robot) is set to direct...

  ...And finally Kevin Spacey has signed to reprise his role as Lex Luthor in Superman: The Man of Steel, director Bryan Singer's sequel to Superman Returns...

  Source: Variety.com.

  
  

  Posted 07/11/2007 by reelz

  Related: Bryan Singer | Jeff Bridges | Kevin Spacey | Zac Efron | Alex Proyas | Kenny Ortega | Footloose | How to Lose Friends & Alienate People | Superman Returns | Dracula Year Zero | Superman: The Man of Steel