We will never know how Michael Jackson would have felt about “This Is It” being #1 at the box office on it’s first week out… but the movie was a smash hit bringing in more than 101-million-dollars worldwide.  The U.S. box office accounts for a little over 21-million of those dollars.

So far, Sony’s 60-million-dollar investment has paid off.  Over time, with the sale of movie tickets, DVD’s, merchandising and licensing, a billion-dollar film franchise is not hard to fathom.

Biological-mother of Prince and Paris Jackson, Debbie Rowe, saw the movie and said she believed it was a great tribute for his children to remember him by.  According to reports, Katherine Jackson, Latoya, and Michael’s children did not see the film.  Latoya believes Michael would not have wanted his fans to see anything but him performing at his best, and has therefore opted to not see it.

We expect these box office numbers to hold steady for the run of the film… but it’s only in theaters until November 10th!