LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Worldwide ticket sales for Michael Jackson's concert movie exceeded initial forecasts when final data were issued Monday, rising to $103.9 million, distributor Columbia Pictures said.

The Sony Corp unit had said the day before that ``This Is It'' earned a preliminary $101 million since opening worldwide Wednesday.

The North American contribution rose to $34.4 million, up from $32.5 million, while the international tally received a $1 million bump to $69.5 million.

Columbia said it underestimated North American sales for Saturday and Sunday, expecting Halloween festivities to take a bigger bite out of business. In the end, Sunday was the biggest day, with North American sales of $8.3 million -- an indication of rising rather than abating interest in seeing the film.

``I'm just happy that this film has made him a movie star,'' ''This is It'' director Kenny Ortega said at a panel during the AFI Fest in Hollywood Monday evening.

He said Jackson planned to focus on filmmaking, including a 3-D feature version of his groundbreaking ``Thriller'' music clip, after completing an ambitious farewell world concert tour.

Jackson never lived to achieve those dreams, dying of a drug overdose in June, shortly before heading to London to play 50 arena concerts.

Columbia paid about $60 million for the rights to turn his rehearsal footage into a feature film. It had initially planned a limited two-week run, but announced Sunday that the film would run until the end of November in the United States.