They predicted it was going to be big, but Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” movie took in $2.2 million domestically from its first late-night screenings, setting it up for a big full opening day Wednesday and a strong shot at a No. 1 debut weekend.

Distributor Sony said Wednesday matinees for “This Is It” already had surpassed the film’s haul from those first evening screenings. The studio paid $60 million for worldwide rights to the film, which was distilled from more than 100 hours of footage shot as Jackson rehearsed for what would have been a 50-concert comeback run in London starting last July.

Although don’t expect “This is It” to match the success of “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” that opened to $31.1 million in 2008, the MJ film is well on its way to become a top-grossing music industry.

Box-office analyst for Hollywood.com Paul Dergarabedian said, “As a genre, concert movies and even documentaries aren’t usually the type of films to bring in big box-office bucks, but because of his name and also the timing of it, I think it’s a winner. That $60 million investment I think was worthwhile.”

Sony, which opened “This Is It” simultaneously in 99 countries, plans to release worldwide box-office results Thursday for the film’s first full day.

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