Michael Jackson fans are in for a poignant glimpse of what might have been a movie charting the tragic singer's rehearsals for his concert comeback on its worldwide debut today.
More than 100 hours of behind-the-scenes footage for Jackson's aborted return to the stage have been distilled into a two-hour film.
Jackson family members and fans gathered at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles for a 6 pm (0100 GMT Wednesday) premiere, one of more than 15 simultaneous screenings held across five continents in a reflection of the pop icon's global reach.
This Is It will go on a limited two-week release in theaters worldwide starting today, with advance tickets in several countries selling out within days of going on sale last month.
"It's a movie about rehearsing for a concert that never happened," Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal said in a recent interview.
Jackson, who died on June 25 aged 50, had spent the previous four months rehearsing in Los Angeles for a series of 50 concert spectaculars scheduled to begin at London's 02 Arena in July.
More than 800,000 tickets had been sold for the concerts, with organizers promising one of the "most expensive and technically advanced" live shows ever.
Jackson was putting the finishing touches to the show at the time of his death, which authorities in Los Angeles have ruled a homicide.
Video footage from the rehearsals had been intended to help organizers critique the show and was never intended for public viewing. Sony bought the footage for $60 million after executives saw only several minutes.
迈克尔•杰克逊的谢幕演唱会彩排纪录片于今天在全球首映，这对于这位悲剧巨星的歌迷们来说堪称一次心酸的追忆。
影片的素材记录了杰克逊回归演唱会彩排幕后的一些镜头，原长达100多个小时，之后被压缩为两个小时。
（美国当地时间27日晚），杰克逊的家人和歌迷齐聚洛杉矶的诺基亚剧院，参加于六时开始的首映式（格林尼治时间周三凌晨1时）。该纪录片同时在全球五大洲、超过15个城市公映，由此可见这位流行天王在全球的影响力。
《就是这样》于今天在全球公映后，仅将在影院上映两周。上月，该片的预售票在好几个国家出现几天即售罄的抢购热潮。
索尼影业的联合主席艾米•帕斯卡在最近的一次访谈中说：“这是一部关于一场未能与观众见面的演唱会的纪录片。”
杰克逊于今年6月25日去世，享年50岁。在去世前的四个月，他一直在洛杉矶为他的50场大型系列演唱会排练。杰克逊的演唱会原定于今年7月份在伦敦的02 Arena场馆拉开序幕。
杰克逊的50场演唱会共售出80多万张门票，演唱会组织方曾许诺这将会是史上“耗资最多、技术最先进”的现场演出之一。
杰克逊在去世前夕还在为演唱会做最后的准备。杰克逊的死被洛杉矶当地相关机构认定为他杀。
为演唱会彩排拍摄的视频原本是为了帮助演唱会组织方对演出进行评判，而非呈现给公众。在管理层仅看了几分钟的片段之后，索尼即耗资6000万美元买下了所有的拍摄资料。
Vocabulary:
be in for: guaranteed to get or have 肯定会有，肯定会得到（You're in for a big surprise. 你一定会有一个大惊喜。）
poignant:keenly distressing to the mind or feelings（痛苦的）
comeback: a return to formerly enjoyed status or prosperity 重整旗鼓，复出
footage: an amount or length of film or videotape 影片长度
reach: range or scope of influence or effect 影响范围
advance tickets:预售票
finishing touches:最后一笔；最后修整
