History Film / MichaelJacksonsThisIsIt

Being Jackson's first significant concert event since the [[Music/HIStoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI HIStory World Tour]] in 1997, it was touted as pop music's greatest comeback, and the biggest concert series ever held inside the O2, breaking the record set by his rival {{Music/Prince}}'s ''21 Nights In London: The Earth Tour'' concerts. Overnight, sales of Jackson's discography skyrocketed, with sales of ''{{Music/Thriller}}'', ''{{Music/Dangerous}}'', ''{{Music/Bad}}'' and other albums rising 100% or more, and millions of people around the world all tried to buy tickets for ''This is It'', selling out 750,000 seats in less than four hours. In the months leading up to the first concert, Jackson and his troupe rehearsed nonstop at the Staples Center and The Forum in Los Angeles to prepare for ''This is It''.

On March 5, 2009, music legend Music/MichaelJackson, who had spent most of the past decade and a half being [[OvershadowedByControversy dogged by controversy]] and becoming an increasingly ReclusiveArtist, organized a press conference at London's O2 Arena to announce ''This Is It'', a 10 concert series (later increased to fifty due to public demand) that was to be held in the O2 from July 2009 to March 2010. Jackson described the series as his [[GrandFinale final curtain call]], and his concert promoters AEG Live later confirmed that plans for an international tour were in the works.

Being Jackson's first significant concert event since the [[Music/HIStoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI HIStory World Tour]] in 1997, it was touted as pop music's greatest comeback, and the biggest concert series ever held inside the O2, breaking the record set by his rival {{Music/Prince}}'s ''21 Nights In London: The Earth Tour'' concerts. Overnight, sales of Jackson's discography skyrocketed, with sales of ''{{Music/Thriller}}'', ''{{Music/Dangerous}}'', ''{{Music/Bad}}'' and other albums rising 100% or more, and millions of people around the world all tried to buy tickets for ''This Is It'', selling out all 50 dates in less than 4 hours. In the months leading up to the first concert, Jackson and his troupe rehearsed nonstop at the Staples Center and The Forum in Los Angeles to prepare for ''This is It''.

The end result was ''Michael Jackson's This Is It'', a documentary/concert movie that documents Michael Jackson's last rehearsals, showing him not only performing, but also going into the audition and creative process, and showing interviews with the musicians and dancers involved in the production. Initially given a limited released on October 28, 2009, the movie topped the box office in North America and in several countries around the world, quickly becoming the highest grossing concert film of all time. This prompted Columbia to extend the theater screenings to December. Critics, fans, and even some of Jackson's family members criticized Columbia and Jackson's estate for releasing the rehearsal footage to cash in on his death, but still gave the film largely positive reviews, praising Jackson's performance and portrayal, as well as giving a glimpse of WhatCouldHaveBeen at London.

Being Jackson's first significant concert event since the [[Music/HIStoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI HIStory World Tour]] in 1997, it was touted as pop music's greatest comeback, and the biggest concert series ever held inside the O2, breaking the record set by his rival {{Music/Prince}}'s ''21 Nights In London: The Earth Tour'' concerts. Overnight, sales of Jackson's discography skyrocketed, with sales of ''{{Music/Thriller}}'', ''{{Music/Dangerous}}'', ''{{Music/Bad}}'' and other albums rising 100% or more, and millions of people around the world all tried to buy tickets for ''This Is It'', selling out all 50 dates in less than 4 hours. In the months leading up to the first concert, Jackson and his troupe rehearsed nonstop at the Staples Center and The Forum in Los Angeles to prepare for ''This Is It''.

In the late summer of that same year, footage of Jackson performing "They Don't Care About Us" from the rehearsals leaked online, leading to many fans clamoring for more rehearsal footage of Jackson. So AEG Live and Columbia Pictures, with the approval of Jackson's estate, enlisted ''This Is It'' director and Jackson's personal friend Kenny Ortega to compile and condense over 100 hours worth of behind the scenes footage into a 150 minute movie.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Basically the point of the entire film. These rehearsals were never meant to be edited into a movie, and filmed primarily for Jackson's personal archives; destined to be seen mostly in television B-roll, and perhaps a "behind the scenes" featurette on a home video of the concerts. (The wildly varying picture quality of the film betrays this.)
* WillfullyWeak: Non-combat example. Michael is shown deliberately not performing at full strength during rehearsals, trying to save his voice and stamina for the real thing.[[note]][[http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3A896617 As one reviewer observed]], MJ was only performing at sixty percent at most.[[/note]] The one time he's shown singing at full strength, during the "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" segment, he catches himself, and playfully chastises the crew and backup dancers (who were cheering him on) for making him sing at full strength.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[invoked]] The film was put together to show audiences what Michael had been planning for his intended swan song, with hints at his trademark showmanship on display. Had the concerts gone ahead as planned, the performance would have involved Michael reaching back into the Jackson 5 catalog and incorporating [=3D=] horror effects for "Thriller".

* {{Bowdlerize}}: Compared to the zombies in [[Music/MichaelJacksonsThriller the "Thriller" video,]] the zombies done for ''This is It'' are somewhat [[Main/{{Disneyfication}} tame and cartoonish,]] compared to the grisly, textured creatures seen in the original film.

** This is not even consistent within the same song; sometimes Jackson can be heard singing his vocal on top of a prerecorded track, and sometimes he decides to stop singing live mid-song, with the sound crew dutifully dropping back to a prerecorded vocal.

On March 5, 2009, music legend Music/MichaelJackson, who had spent most of the past two decades being [[OvershadowedByControversy dogged by controversy]] and becoming an increasingly ReclusiveArtist, organized a press conference at London's O2 Arena to announce ''This Is It'', a 10 concert series (later increased to fifty due to public demand) that was to be held in the O2 from July 2009 to March 2010. Jackson described the series as his [[GrandFinale final curtain call]], and his concert promoters AEG Live later confirmed that plans for an international tour were in the works.

* SameLanguageDub: Since he was "saving" his voice for London (see WillfullyWeak below), some of Michael's lead vocals were lipsynched during rehearsals. Wiki/TheOtherWiki [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson%27s_This_Is_It#Songs_performed_in_the_film has specifics]] on what songs were lipsynched. (This is not even consistent within the same song; sometimes Jackson is singing his vocal on top of a prerecorded track, and sometimes Jackson decides to stop singing mid-song, with the sound crew dutifully dropping back to a prerecorded vocal.)

* FacelessMooks: His backup dancers in "They Don't Care About Us"

* GreenAesop: "Earth Song", obviously. But made more poignant here by having backup singers dress in tattered clothing joining Jackson on stage, and a video featuring a menacing earth mover plowing through a forest and seemingly [[WouldHurtAChild crush]] an innocent girl trying to protect its remains. Said mover would also join Jackson on stage, coming up behind him and stop as the finale of the piece.
* MoonwalkDance: Surprisingly absent from the movie, even in the "Billie Jean" performance.

* SameLanguageDub: Since he was "saving" his voice for London (see WillfullyWeak below), some of Michael's lead vocals were lipsynched during rehearsals. Wiki/TheOtherWiki [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson%27s_This_Is_It#Songs_performed_in_the_film has specifics]] on what songs were lipsynched.

Alas, sadly [[AuthorExistenceFailure MJ died on June 25, 2009, less than a month before he was set to take the stage at London]].

Alas, it was not meant to be, as [[AuthorExistenceFailure MJ died on June 25, 2009, less than a month before he was set to take the stage at London]].

** "The Drill" / "They Don't Care About Us" contains references to "Bad", "Dangerous", "Mind is the Magic", "HIStory", "She Drives Me Wild", and "Why You Wanna Trip On Me".

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thisisitrehearsal.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Music/MichaelJackson The King Of Pop]] prepares for the comeback [[AuthorExistenceFailure that never happened]].]]

-> ''This is it,\\

!!''Michael Jackson's This Is It'' contains examples of:

* WritingAroundTrademarks: During the brief snippet of "[=HIStory=]" that played during "They Don't Care About Us", a piece of music heavily resembling "Great Gate of Kiev" is played. In the original clip of the rehearsal that was leaked online, the original "Great Gate of Kiev" is played, but was replaced in the film due to sample clearance issues.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michale-jackson-this-is-it.jpg]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The King Of Pop prepares for the comeback [[AuthorExistanceFailure that never happened]].]]

[[caption-width-right:350:One of music's greatest WhatCouldHaveBeen moments.]]

* {{Sampling}}: The "Thriller" segment also features clips from "[[Film/MichaelJacksonsGhosts Ghosts]]" and "Threatened".

* SameLanguageDub: Since he was "saving" his voice for London (see WillfullyWeak below), some of Michael's lead vocals were lipsynched during rehearsals. TheOtherWiki [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson%27s_This_Is_It#Songs_performed_in_the_film has specifics]] on what songs were lipsynched.

The end result was '''''Michael Jackson's This Is It''''', a documentary/concert movie that documents Michael Jackson's last rehearsals, showing him not only performing, but also going into the audition and creative process, and showing interviews with the musicians and dancers involved in the production. Initially given a limited released on October 28, 2009, the movie topped the box office in North America and in several countries around the world, quickly becoming the highest grossing concert film of all time. This prompted Columbia to extend the theater screenings to December. Critics, fans, and even some of Jackson's family members criticized Columbia and Jackson's estate for releasing the rehearsal footage to cash in on his death, but still gave the film largely positive reviews, praising Jackson's performance and portrayal, as well as giving a glimpse of WhatCouldHaveBeen at London.

* {{Crossover}}: Thanks to the magic of modern video editing software, MJ's ''{{Film/Moonwalker}}'' persona appears in classic films such as ''Film/{{Gilda}}'', ''Film/TheBigSleep'', and ''Film/InALonelyPlace'' in the "Smooth Criminal" segment. He even interacts with Creator/HumphreyBogart in a few scenes!

* {{Crossover}}: Thanks to the magic of modern video editing software, MJ's ''{{Film/Moonwalker}}'' persona appears in classic films such as ''Film/Gilda'', ''Film/TheBigSleep'', and ''Film/InALonelyPlace'' in the "Smooth Criminal" segment. He even interacts with Creator/HumphreyBogart in a few scenes!

* Giant Spider: The "Thriller" segment features a giant black widow spider. Not only is one on screen (this would have been in 3D, no less), but one scurries on stage that opens up to reveal Jackson.

Being Jackson's first significant concert event since the [[Music/HIStoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI HIStory World Tour]] in 1997, it was touted as pop music's greatest comeback, and the biggest concert series ever held inside the O2, breaking the record set by his rival {{Music/Prince}}'s ''21 Nights In London: The Earth Tour'' concerts. Overnight, sales of Jackson's discography skyrocketed, with sales of ''{{Music/Thriller}}'', ''{{Music/Dangerous}}'', ''{{Music/Bad}}'' and other albums rose 100% or more, and millions of people around the world all tried to buy tickets for ''This Is It'', selling out all 50 dates in less than 4 hours. In the months leading up to the first concert, Jackson and his troupe rehearsed nonstop at the Staples Center and The Forum in Los Angeles to prepare for ''This Is It''.

The end result was '''''Michael Jackson's This Is It''''', a documentary/concert movie that documents Michael Jackson's last rehearsals, showing him not only performing, but also going into the audition and creative process, and showing interviews with the musicians and dancers involved in the production. Initially given a limited released on October 28, 2009, the movie topped the box office in North America and in several countries around the world, prompting Columbia to extend the theater screenings to December. Critics, fans, and even some of Jackson's family members criticized Columbia and Jackson's estate for releasing the rehearsal footage to cash in on his death, but still gave the film largely positive reviews, praising Jackson's performance and portrayal, as well as giving a glimpse of WhatCouldHaveBeen at London.