Sony, others bid for Jackson rehearsal footage
(07-21) 04:00 PDT LOS ANGELES — Sony Corp.’s movie studio has bid $50 million to acquire the worldwide distribution rights to a film based on rehearsal footage for Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” comeback concert series, according to a person familiar with the bid.
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The person said Monday that the bid came after several studios, including Paramount, Universal, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., were shown footage last week. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the bidding was not completed.
The winning studio would produce the film with Jackson’s concert promoter, AEG Live, and his estate. It would go a long way to helping AEG Live recoup some of the $30 million to $32 million it spent producing the concert before Jackson died June 25.
Sony Pictures has a leg up on other bidders because Sony Music distributes Jackson’s music and is in a 50-50 partnership with his estate in Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
The bidding was reported earlier by the Los Angeles Times and blogger Nikki Finke.
Last week, attorney John Branca and former music executive John McClain received signed court papers authorizing them to act on the Jackson estate’s behalf until a hearing Aug. 3. McClain has been sorting through unreleased recordings, while Sony Music is interested in releasing a commemorative album. Music sales have soared.
Jackson’s 2002 will named Branca and McClain as executors and directs all of his assets be placed in a trust.
This article appeared on page DC – 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle