Fans, colleagues, and friends of the late Michael Jackson gathered in Los Angeles on October 27 for the premier of “This Is It”, a film featuring rehearsals of the King of Pop for a series of concerts prior to this death.
Kenny Ortega, the director of “This Is It” and Jackson’s long-time collaborator, shed tears as he greeted celebrities and dancers who came to honour Jackson. The director said that audiences will surely be surprised by the film’s “intimacy”.
“It’s unguarded and raw and real, and Michael is there and available to us all, and lovely and kind,” he said.
“I know he would have liked it,” said Michael Bearden, the associate producer and musical director of “This Is It”. “Kenny Ortega and I, we considered Michael in every aspect of the movie. We were with him every day for the last three or four months of his life at least, so we know he would have liked what we did.”
Worldwide reactions to the film, which is set to open in 99 countries on Tuesday and Wednesday, have so far been overwhelming. Lee In-kyu, a 29-year-old South Korean office worker, said that he took a leave just to watch the film.
“All the genres of Korean music history are basically all influenced by Michael Jackson. This is such a meaningful time for me to watch the movie of a person in the century,” Lee said.
Johnny Kuhn of San Pedro, California also expressed his sentiments. He and his wife took their sons to the scene for the premier of the movie which he expected to be “happy and sad”.
“We’ve lost a legend,” Kuhn said.
