Invincible: Anschutz to Earn Hefty Payday Off Michael Jackson Movie

If you had any concerns that Philip Anschutz would be left holding the bag after Michael Jackson's death forced the cancellation of a 50-night run of concerts in London promoted by Anschutz' AEG Live and scheduled to be held at Anschutz's AEG World Wide-owned O2 Arena, you can relax. Anschutz, who made $100,000 in 1967 by charging Universal Pictures to film firefighters putting out a blaze that threatened to engulf his first oil well in Gillette, Wyoming, is nothing if not an expert at finding the upside—and then some!—in even the worst disaster.

Anschutz, the reclusive, Conservative billionaire who owns the Weekly Standard and the Washington Examiner (among many, diverse holdings), will make 10 percent of all ticket sales on Sony's Michael Jackson concert film, This Is It, which opened today, according to Bloomberg's Michael White and Adam Satariano.

Deadline Hollywood's Nikki Finke predicted the film will make $250 million in its first five days. (What's 10 percent of $250 million? A lot.) MTV Movie News has already declared This Is It may be on track to "Become [the] Biggest Concert Film of All Time."

Anschutz reportedly already pocketed $36 million from the $60 million sale of the rehearsal footage that makes up the bulk of the film. That raw footage, shot in the AEG-owned Staples Center, was snapped up by Sony's co-chiefs, Michael M. Lynton and Amy Pascal, after they watched 12 minutes' worth, according to a feature by Tim Arango in this past Sunday's New York Times Business section. Bloomberg estimates the total take for the film and the This Is It soundtrack at $400 million. Not bad for an artist mired in scandals, debt, and declining sales before his death in June.

According to one report, "The midnight opening of the Michael Jackson tribute, This Is It, was nothing short of electrifying. Fans around the world waited with eager anticipation to see Jackson perform one last time. Many stayed up long past their bedtimes, some took vacation days, and all were ready for an exciting and awe-inspiring show."

That hard-hitting story comes from Cynthia Graham, on Anschutz's Examiner.com.

Meanwhile, the Wrap's Josef Adalian stopped by a screening at the Regal Cinemas Fiesta 12 in Henderson, Nevada last night and found, "a steady stream of theatergoers packed into the pre-midnight showings." The New York Times' Ben Sisario checked out the crowd at the AMC Magic Johnson theater in Harlem and found that it was, "far from sold out, with only a few dozen fans in line." Sisario also swung by Times Square's Regal E-Walk Stadium 13 where "only one of the three midnight screenings there sold out."

All three of those theaters are owned in whole or in part by Anschutz. Even if opening-morning sales lagged, he probably made up for it with popcorn and soda sales.