The Michael Jackson movie exploded at the box office yesterday.
Projections are a preview night of around $12.5 million.
It turns out the audience doesn’t care about the movie’s insufficiency, like it’s not really a movie. They just want to dance.
Forget about talk of trials or child molestation. The audience doesn’t care. Even if they think they’re a chance Michael was guilty of something, they won’t stop til they get enough.
Last night, the audiences in different theaters were dressed like Michael, and/or they danced in front of movie screens. It looked a little like the Rocky Horror Picture Show, with audience participation.
No one compartmentalizes like Michael Jackson fans. Who does that remind of us of? Donald Trump, of course. He can call Mexicans rapists and drug addicts, make fun of poor people, and so on and still have fervent followers who leave the rest of us with heads shaking.
It also doesn’t seem to matter that “Michael” is not a good movie. It’s a recreation of an accepted story that’s been told over and over for 60 years without any substance. The audience doesn’t care if almost nothing in the move really happened. They’ve always liked this settled version of the story. Do they learn anything about any of the people? No. Again, this isn’t a dramatic narrative. It’s a concert movie.
So maybe we should stop calling “Michael” a biopic. It has the largest opening for any concert film.
Meantime, the “Thriller” CD is number 2 on amazon. Both “Off the Wall” and “Bad” are in the top 25. The only laggard is the movie’s soundtrack, hanging back at number 300.
This morning, Sony and the Estate are releasing a new video for “Human Nature,” a sleeper track from “Thriller,” so the Jackson fans can manipulate it up the charts.
