Even after his death, the King of Pop remains the king. The Michael Jackson estate has reportedly made $275 million since the artist’s passing – thanks in part to re-energized record sales and stuff like THIS IS IT – and shows no signs of slowing.
Today, Deadline is reporting that production company GK Films is actively negotiating for a rights package with Fox 2000, Mandate/Lionsgate, and Summit Entertainment that would allow development to begin on a feature film version of Jackson’s classic music video THRILLER. Exploitative much?
Per Deadline’s Mike Fleming: “Plot is being kept under wraps but I understand it has to do with the song’s folklore, involving Vincent Price and the town he grew up in.”
Scribe Jeremy Garelick (THE BREAK-UP) has been commissioned to hammer out a screenplay with director Kenny Ortega (HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL) attached to helm the project (expected to be budgeted somewhere under $50 million). Ortega was also behind Jackson’s THIS IS IT documentary.
And this certainly won’t be the last we hear of Jacko. Apparently, Cirque du Soleil is trying to get two new live shows going that are based on his music. Then there’s Ivan Reitman and his Montecito production company that’s hoping to make a film that touches on the musician’s younger years.
Here’s the original 1983 video of THRILLER, directed by John Landis:
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