We hardly need to tell you that “This Is It” The Michael Jackson Movie launched last night with simultaneous premieres in 16 cities across the globe, but only for a two-week season.

Sony Pictures reportedly paid $60 million for the rights, and they’ve played every Ace in the Movie Marketing deck to ensure that they turn that initial investment into gold.

Time Magazine cites five pieces of marketing magic employed by Sony in their efforts to make this the movie event of the year:

1. The Two-Week Window
   One of Sony’s first marketing moves was to set a deadline for the film public, proclaiming that This Is It would play in theaters only for a two-week run. Can’t you just feel the sense of urgency? “It has event-ized this thing in a huge way,” marvels an industry exec. The prospect of an end date lit a fire under the devoted and even the Jackson-ambivalent.
2. The Advance Sales
   Sony made a hard push for advance ticket sales over and above what most movies command, with the same thrust and hype that live-concert sales get. The result has been impressive: since the Sept. 27 on-sale date, there have been reports of 1,600 advance sellouts.
3. The Quick Turnaround
   Although the frenzy over Jackson’s death has abated, there was a clear mandate to honor — some might say tap into — the international outpouring of grief. “It’s not about exploiting,” says Director Kenny Ortega. “Every corner of this planet, people were reaching out saying, ‘Show us something.’ “
4. The Mystery Factor
   The movie is one of the great secrets in Hollywood. Only a select group of insiders and family members has seen it, and certainly no critics have. Ortega chalks this up to Jackson’s need for opening-night magic. “It was always, Don’t ruin the secrets, don’t ruin the surprises,” says Ortega.
5. The Global Reach
   Perhaps only Michael Jackson could command premieres around the world, from the main event in Los Angeles to London to Seoul. All told, there will be 33 premieres, with 16 synched to begin at the same time and eight featuring a satellite feed showing red-carpet arrivals from the gala in Los Angeles.

So is it working?

The twittersphere has been going crazy since the first screenings started. Predictably, tweets have been either frenetically positive (@MiikoMentz Brilliant, beautiful, poetic and moving. I thoroughly enjoyed it.) or caustically negative (@WillSloanEsq Spent the evening at Michael Jackson’s This Is It. Dare I say that this sloppy, vaguely sleazy film is his perfect epigraph for Mr. Tabloid?). MJ always did polarise people.

Bloomberg is predicting that the movie and CD may generate as much as $400 million in sales worldwide as fans turn out to see and hear the last live performances of the late King of Pop — with around 90% of that revenue going to the singer’s estate, to be applied against the much publicised debts that the original live concert series was intended to repay.

Already fans are asking, nay demanding, to know when the DVD will be coming out. No doubt Sony will have a trick or two up their sleeves when it comes to releasing a whole series of DVD and BluRay releases. Think Special Editions, Extended Special Editions, Director’s Cuts, yada yada yada. After all, there are 120 hours of rehearsal footage with which to work.

Michael Jackson is no longer with us, but the marketing and merchandising machine thunders on.

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Tags: kenny ortega, King of Pop, Michael Jackson, sony pictures, This Is It, thisisit