“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” comes too late in the year to be considered for a documentary Oscar, but the film about the late King of Pop’s preparations for a series of comeback concerts could qualify for other Hollywood honors, including the Academy Award for best picture.
The film, which opened around the globe Tuesday and Wednesday has already earned rousing praise from fans and critics, who say it restores Jackson’s reputation as a world-class entertainer.
Director Kenny Ortega, a longtime Jackson collaborator who was overseeing his London concert comeback, crafted the nearly two-hour film from more than 100 hours of footage recorded during rehearsals for the London shows, which were to have begun in July. Jackson died June 25 at age 50.
“What we did here was focus on telling a good story and creating a film for the fans really enabling them to understand what Michael Jackson had dreamed for them,” Ortega said Wednesday.
He added it was his hope “the audience for this film will grow and that as many people come to see it as possible because I think that it’s a wonderful story about a brilliant man... Awards, Oscars, that’s all great wishful thinking.”
It may be more than wishful, said Steven Gaydos, executive editor of the Hollywood trade paper Variety and a self-described cynic. With the Academy Awards best-picture slate expanded to 10 films this year rather than the traditional five, “This Is It” could find itself among the contenders, he said.
Sony, which paid $60 million for the global film rights, plans to keep “This Is It” in theaters for just over two weeks. Elzer said the studio will submit it for consideration for best picture “and other appropriate categories.” He wouldn’t specify which ones.
Entering it in the Oscar race this year means “This Is It” cannot be considered in the documentary category next year.
The movie includes plenty of music, but none of it is eligible for Oscar consideration because it wasn’t created specifically for the film.
The film took in $2.2 million domestically from its first late-night screenings, setting it up for a strong shot at a No. 1 debut weekend. It is already well on its way to becoming a top-grossing music documentary.
Ortega, a veteran director, producer and choreographer who counts TV’s “High School Musical” among his credits, could find himself in contention for a best-director nod, Gaydos said.
“He did a masterful job putting this whole thing together,” he said. “It was so powerful and interesting, so creative and well-done, I think he should be considered... Kenny just won over all these critics like me with Michael Jackson that anything interesting could go on with this guy.”
After completing a weeklong run, “This Is It” could also be eligible for Golden Globe awards consideration if it’s submitted before the Nov. 6 deadline, said Michael Russell, a spokesman for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which puts on the annual ceremony.
Ortega said an Oscar nod would be a fitting recognition of Jackson’s last work.
“He deserves one,” he said. “Come on people.”