Tokyo - A documentary of Michael Jackson's final performances debuted Wednesday in Japan for hundreds of fans of the "King of Pop" as the red carpet was rolled out for former sumo wrestling star Akebono and the US singer Lionel Richie. The Japanese celebrities appeared for the beginning of the showings of This Is It Wednesday evening at Tokyo's Roppongi Hills entertainment, office, residential and shopping development.
This Is It began showing around the world for a limited two-week run four months after Jackson, the singer of such hits as "Thriller" and "Billie Jean," died at the age of 50 from a drug overdose. The movie's advance ticket sales are putting it on track to become the most successful concert movie ever.
It is playing in more than 300 theatres in Japan alone, and more than 200,000 advance tickets had been sold there.
The first viewing of the film, however, came in neighbouring China, where the documentary began showing minutes after midnight and hours before it opened around the rest of the world.
This Is It was constructed from about 100 hours of footage shot during Jackson's rehearsals for his 50-date comeback engagement in London's 02 Arena.
Sony Pictures bought the movie rights from concert promoter AEG for a reported 60 million dollars and has reportedly printed more than 1,500 copies of the movie.
