Photo:Kevin Mazur/AEG Live via Getty Images 
Negotiations are reportedly underway between most of the major movie studios to secure the distribution rights to a film based on Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for his planned This Is It concerts, the AP reports. According to the AP, executives from Sony, Paramount, Universal and 20th Century Fox were all shown rehearsal footage, and Sony Corp. reportedly offered $50 million for the distribution rights. Sony appears to be the likeliest destination for the film, as the company already distributes Jackson’s catalog and has a 50/50 stake in the Sony/ATV Music Publishing deal with the Jackson estate. Footage of Jackson and his dancers performing “They Don’t Care About Us” during rehearsals was previously unveiled.
Whoever wins the bidding war will produce the film along with AEG Live — the concert promoters staging the This Is It concerts, who filmed Jackson’s rehearsals at Los Angeles’ Staples Center — as well as the Jackson estate. The high bid seems to back AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips’ claims that Michael was in good health during the rehearsals.
Additionally, AEG Live is also reportedly in talks to turn the This Is It concert into a TV special directed by Kenny Ortega, which could be the rumored all-star tribute discussed in the weeks following Jackson’s death. NBC is reportedly the front runner to acquire the television special with the price somewhere in the tens of millions. As Rock Daily previously reported, 31 million viewers watched the Jackson memorial on TV and roughly 30 million more streamed the video online during its Tuesday afternoon simulcast, suggesting a TV special would likely pr...
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily