They certainly don’t wait long to capitalize on things do they?
As most of you know, when Michael Jackson died he was hard at work preparing for his upcoming series of concerts he was calling “This Is It”. As a matter of fact, Jackson was already well into massive rehearsals for the shows… rehearsals that were video taped… over 80 hours of video tape… and now Sony pictures is in negotiations to purchase that footage to cut into a documentary by the same name.
Reports are out that even though Sony hasn’t yet secured the rights, they are already hard at work putting the documentary together and have brought on director Kenny Ortega (director of the “High School Musical” franchise) to start to project.
Sony apparently has a goal of finishing and releasing the film by the end of the year.
So I’m not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand I must admit I’d be very interested to see this. I’m dying to know what that last show would have looked like. But on the other hand this sorta feels like they’re just trying to take advantage of the death of Jackson. Why else rush to get it out so quickly? But even if that’s true… can you blame them? Like I said… I don’t know how to feel about this yet. What do you think?
Read the blogs and have just a few comments.
1) AEG spend a BOATLOAD of money fronting the This is It concerts – upwards of 50 million already counting all expenses. They aren’t going to recoup that from the insurance agent (Lloyds of London) cause the policy was not in effect and validated. I’m sure they need to stay afloat and explain to their shareholders how they managed to fumble this one.
2) If you see it in the press (not tabloids but press) long enough, you will believe it is true, even if the accused is found not guilty. Witness how many people believe O.J. did it although he was found not guilty. So, with MJ, he could not afford the hit to his reputation/ruination of his career regardless of his innocence or guilt. Also, he did need to work – you might laugh at that but he did. He was told a trial could last 7 to 8 years and that it would bring him down regardless of the outcome, pay it off and get it out of the way. Sad thing is, it did ruin him and his career. In most cases of child molestation, it ruins all parties involved (parents, victim, accused) regardless of what actually happened.
3) The documentary of the rehearsals-gosh it doesn’t take too long to get it out-it’s already done, just put it together, slice it, splice it, copy it and ship it.
4) The books were in production but not in print before he died. The authors/publishers yanked them from the list, rewrote some stuf and sent them back to production for printing.
Really really want to see this documentary.
I totaly want to see this!!
I never really cared much for Michael Jackson before he died. I just thought he was another weird tabloided celebrity like Britney Spears (exept he actualy had good songs).
And then I saw a few documentaries of him on TV and actualy got to hear his full story and I started to really actualy empantize for him and actuatly got a positive opinion of him.
I think the most disapointing this about his death was that he never got to do his comeback and I think that making this documentary and letting the world see his new stuff would be the best way that Hollywood could honor his memory and the closest this to a comeback Michael will ever get.
Fair enough…thanks for the insight. :)
I just heard Danny Bonaduce talk about Jackson, and now I’m on the fence a bit more.
I have a problem still that he paid money to those people…why do so if you’re innocent? Because it was cheaper? I don’t buy that explanation, Jackson had too much money for that to hold water.
If I was being accused of such things, and I was innocent, I’d SPARE NO EXPENSE in clearing my name in a very public way…I sure as hell wouldn’t give them a payoff – unless maybe I had something to hide.
It just doesn’t pencil out.
You are clearly unaware of how the (broken) civil suits in the US work.
OJ was aquitted of his charges because they couldnt find sufficient evidence, but while the same lack of evidence cleared him, the circumstantial and other inadmissible evidence declined by the criminal courts were completely admissible and allowed in Civil and he had to pay the Brown family a ton of money.
How is it a civil court can find him guilty of a crime that a criminal court couldn’t?
Just because he gave money to those families (who even admittedly said they were only after his money) does not admit his guilt. Sometimes (especially with celebrities) throwing money at it makes the situation go away even when you are innocent.
Hey Jim,
It’s a totally fair question you raise, but let me seriously answer it for you.
I worked in law before doing The Movie Blog a few years ago and I worked in Civil Litigation. I can tell you that 99% of all civil cased end in a settlement. Why? Because 99% of people are guilty? No. Because it is seriously cheaper and eaiser.
The $20 million Jackson paid out to that family was 1% of the financial and reputation damage he would have suffered if that case had been allowed to move forward. it would have been in the courts for YEARS and thus in the news every single day. Jackson would have ended up spending more than the $20 million in legal fees alone, and then at the end of the day have to settle anyway.
If settleing a case was any sort of admission of guilt, then almost 100% of people who go to court are gulty.
Let me ask you the question in reverse. If you were a parent and you TRULY believed a man molested your child… would you settle for just getting money out of him???
One question Mr. Campea.
How long did it take for you to get in a position where you are right in almost every topic to argue/debate about?
Not as point of argument, but of clarification, john: so does your last statement imply that the parents of the “victim” didn’t truly believe their child was molested? Would they not have settled if they really thought Michael was guilty, but instead kept on him until he had lost everything? And to pose a similar question to you, if you TRULY believed you were innocent, would you not spend any amount of your resources to save your reputation, dignity, or innocence?
Wait, micheal jackson died?
I thought one would have to be hiding under a rock not to know by now, because I guess I was wrong.
Sar•casm [sahr-kaz-uhm]
– noun
1. Harsh or bitter derision or irony
2. A sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark
i was in walmart the other day and was surprised to see at least 3 documentarys on jackson already published. HOW?!?! i know they wernt older ones that just got a reprint, one was brand new it literally said “Michael Jackson: FINAL HOURS”
It kinda sucks but they know people would wanna see it therefore they know they could make a ton of money. It sucks that that’s how things are but that’s just how things are.
I had a concert ticket so I would really find a little solace in seeing this. I wonder if Michael would have wanted fans to see what he had in store, I think he would do, but being the perfectionist he was, perhaps not with just rehearsal footage. The clip that you can find online shows that he wasnt performing at full energy, just hitting the marks and running through it. I dont feel that it should be rushed out for this current peak of MJ, they should take their time.
I think I’ve been sick of hearing the name Michael Jackson since 2 days after his death.
I agree we are glorifying this pervert way too much.
Really? Pervert?
Because he acted like a child and surrounded himself with his emotional peers he is now a pervert?
Jump to conclusions much?
No, b/c he sleeps in bed w/ boys “because its the loving thing to do”.
I sleep in bed with my boys because I love them. If one comes to my room because they had a bad dream and want to cuddle with me, you then figure I am getting lucky?? Seriously, think about it.
Why is it that any sentiment of love is automatically sexual?
He never grew up. People judge him by their own twisted standards when he was doing the same thing any other child would. But because he was an adult, you assume he was getting a boner over it.
He was a very disturbed man with many unresolved and socially unacceptable issues. He was also an amazing and undeniable entertainer that may very well never be matched. I am sorry for his fans and his family for his passing. But to glorify him and continue to lift him to sainthood makes him something he definitely was not. When all is said and done, he was like anyone else. Life got to him, and he reacted in the only ways he knew how. He made some bizarre choices. His world closed in around him, and he just did what he thought was okay. The shame is that many of those things will forever scar what should’ve been a genuine legacy. Instead, he’ll be remembered by many for a life full of scandals and antics. And I doubt these will be included in this “documentary.”
That’s because this documentary seemingly does not deal with his personal issues. It’s about the work leading to his comeback tour.