This Is It: the comeback that never opened

Jackson's London return was a concrete production, not a retrospective invention. Contemporary Reuters reporting describes an initial ten-show commitment expanding to fifty dates at the O2 Arena and ticket demand strong enough to sell the run out. Those were planned concerts; they were not fifty performances Jackson completed. Dates were subsequently rearranged, and the planned opening was July 13 when he died in June. [1][2]

The proposed residency joined Jackson's desire to perform with a promoter's investment and expectations of revenue. The family's later civil complaint alleged that the resulting commercial pressure took precedence over his welfare. That is the plaintiffs' case, not a court finding that promoters intentionally killed him. A genuine contractual dispute and a murder conspiracy are different propositions requiring different evidence. [3]

After his death, rehearsal material became the film This Is It. Sony's own announcement identifies AEG figures and estate representatives among those involved in producing it and explains that most material came from June rehearsals in Los Angeles and Inglewood. This makes the footage valuable firsthand performance material with an identifiable commercial and editorial context. [4]

The existence of a profitable posthumous project does not establish that its participants planned a death. It does identify an interest readers should understand when using the finished film as a portrait of Jackson's final weeks. [4]

The surviving rehearsal footage records Jackson working on a demanding show. Sony describes the film as a selection from more than one hundred hours of material, made with the estate's support. It can demonstrate particular performances and creative decisions. It cannot establish that every rehearsal went well, that the selection is medically representative, or that he could safely complete the full residency. [1]

Other evidence records concern. During Murray's criminal trial, tour personnel described Jackson's inconsistent condition and discussed Ortega's alarm after a June rehearsal. Accounts of an energetic performance and an episode of marked distress do not automatically contradict one another: they describe different moments. Neither justifies diagnosing him from a short internet clip. [2]

The family's subsequent lawsuit argued that AEG pushed an unwell performer toward rehearsals and failed in its duties. Those claims deserved examination and were examined in court; the complaint itself does not settle them. The eventual legal outcome is covered separately rather than being smuggled into a description of his appearance. [3]

The central medical issue was also more specific than whether Jackson looked fit. The coroner identified a fatal drug intoxication and unsafe circumstances of administration. A performer can retain remarkable abilities and nevertheless face lethal danger from treatment. Conversely, visible frailty does not establish that natural disease caused this death. [4]