Michael Jackson Movie To Be Released Two Days Earlier

The Michael Jackson movie, This Is It, will arrive in theaters for a limited two-week run on October 28 - two days earlier than its original release date, Sony has announced.

The film includes more than 80 hours of behind-the-scenes and rehearsal footage shot in the lead-up to Jackson's sold-out London comeback concerts.

In an unusual move, the studio is putting tickets on sale September 27 -- more than a month before the film is released.

"As we began assembling the footage for the motion picture we realized we captured something extraordinary, unique and very special," said the film's director, Kenny Ortega, in a statement. Ortega, the director-choreographer behind Disney's lucrative High School Musical TV-movie franchise, as well as Jackson's creative partner on his Dangerous and HIStory tours, worked closely with the King Of Pop up until his death on June 25  as director of Jackson's This Is It concerts.

"For the first time ever, fans will see Michael as they have never seen him before - this great artist at work. It is raw, emotional, moving and powerful footage that captures his interactions with the This Is It collaborators that he had personally assembled for this once in a lifetime project," said Ortega.

Despite earlier reports, the filmmakers confirmed that This Is It will not contain sequences shot in 3-D.