This Is It: Jackson's last bow

Reuters

LATEST: Michael Jackson's hits played over outdoor speakers, and Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez joined the singer's brothers in Los Angeles for the worldwide premiere of This Is It, a concert movie billed as the King of Pop's final stand.

Culled from 80 hours of videotape taken of the pop star's final days of rehearsals for a series of London concerts in July, director Kenny Ortega has called the film "a story of a master of his craft".

Several hundred fans, many of them wearing a single sequined glove like the one Jackson donned in the 1980s, gathered for the Los Angeles premiere and at a simultaneous opening in London.

Some 150,000, including fans from Brazil and Australia, watched the LA event live on the internet.

Premieres were also held in 15 other cities including Seoul, Johannesburg, Rio De Janeiro, and Berlin.

Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, and Jackson's brothers Jermaine, Tito, Jackie and Marlon were among those who paid tribute to Jackson, who died in June, days before his concert comeback.

"You are going to see preparations for what would have been one of the greatest shows ever," Jermaine Jackson told reporters. But he warned, "You are going to see him going through the motions, not giving 100 percent."

Jackson's three children, his mother and his sisters appeared not to have attended the premiere.

Jackson, who grew up as one of Motown legends The Jackson 5 and still has the best-selling album of all-time with 1982's solo effort Thriller, died suddenly on June 25 in Los Angeles after suffering cardiac arrest at age 50.

Officials have since ruled that his heart stopped due to an overdose of sedatives and the powerful anesthetic propofol, which is utilised in surgery.

The film does not delve into the details of his death, which could result in criminal charges being filed against his doctors.

"It's a privileged path to observe Michael as the creative architect and mastermind behind his work," Ortega told Reuters. He called it "unguarded" and said "it's a unique behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of putting a show together."

THE COMEBACK THAT NEVER CAME

The shows, 50 of them planned for London's 02 arena, had been dubbed Jackson's "comeback tour" by the media after the superstar left the stage in the 2000s after charges of child molestation.

After a 2005 trial, he was acquitted of all charges but the negative publicity took him out of the spotlight.

"I think this film is definitely a way to celebrate his legacy. It is the best way for all of us to say good-bye," said former American Idol contestant Adam Lambert before Tuesday's premiere.

Jackson was said to be as much as $400 million to $500 million in debt when he died, but the value of his assets - principally his music and his ownership of a song catalog that held rights to old Beatles tunes - outweighed his debts.

After his death, concert promoter AEG Live, which bankrolled the London concerts, struck a $60 million deal with Sony Corp.'s Columbia Pictures movie studio to use the videotapes and make the film.

Ortega, the shows' choreographer and a long-time Jackson friend, was hired to direct.

In London, fan John Taylor travelled some 70 miles to be at the premiere. "I've been a fan for over 30 years," said Taylor, 38, who bought tickets for the first and last of Jackson's London shows. "The man's a legend."

In the United States, online ticket seller Fandango.com said that more than 1,000 showings of the movie were sold-out and so far This Is It was the No. 3 top-selling advance ticket of 2009.

Global box office estimates vary from more than $600 million over its planned two-week run down to $100 million.