Michael Jackson’s This Is It Conquered the Box Office

The King of Pop is at Number One again.

The superstar’s concert movie reigned at the worldwide box office on Sunday, and earned an estimated $101 million in the five days since opening globally on Wednesday.

With that awesome result, distributor Sony is extending the farewell performance film beyond its planned two-week run through Thanksgiving (November 29). Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Columbia’s parent Sony Corp, was happy about the movie’s performance, saying, “This has always, always been a worldwide play. We’re very happy with the results domestically, but ecstatic with the worldwide.”

According to studio estimates Sunday, the film was this year’s No. 1 Halloween thriller domestically with a $21.3 million opening weekend. This Is It raised its domestic total to $32.5 million. It also pulled in $68.5 million overseas, including $10.4 million in Japan, $6.3 million in Germany, $5.8 million in France, $3.6 million in Australia and $3.2 million in China.

And while speaking of the late King of Pop himself, Bruer added, “He’s just loved everywhere on the planet. It doesn’t matter if it’s Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, South America. Every continent in the world loved him and his music.”

The studio paid $60 million for film rights to the movie that captures Jackson in behind-the-scenes performances in the weeks before his death last June, as he rehearsed his biggest hits for the London shows. In Great Britain, the movie earned $7.6 million.

With Jackson’s This Is It sits at top of the box office, horror flick Paranormal Activity fell sharply to second place in its second weekend after an anemic debut. Another horror movie, Saw VI, came in at No. 5 this weekend with $5.6 million, raising its total to just $22.8 million after 10 days.

Here’s the top 10 movie based on estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com; final figures will be released Monday:

1. Michael Jackson’s This Is It, $21.3 million
2. Paranormal Activity, $16.5 million
3. Law Abiding Citizen, $7.3 million
4. Couples Retreat, $6.1 million
5. Saw VI, $5.6 million
6. Where the Wild Things Are, $5.1 million
7. The Stepfather,” $3.4 million
8. Astro Boy, $3.04 million
9. Amelia, $3 million
10. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, $2.8 million

Well, this is it, Michael Jackson!

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