Thriller Show Uproar
January 31, 2009
Jackson’s Thriller video director has sought to ban the making of a Broadway musical based on the music and choreography.
John Landis co-wrote and directed the music video and is now suing Michael Jackson and producer James L. Nederland’s company over the potential show.
Nederlander announced this week that he’d acquired the rights to Thriller. The lawsuit seeks to action that Jackson doesn’t have the authority to create the stage show based on what Landis directed.
Landis lawyers said the he is entitled to fifty percent of profits as he co-wrote and directed the video.
The legal paperwork has been reproduced and is available on The Wrap, an entertainment website. It states:
“After a spectacular theatrical premier, the Thriller Video became a worldwide mega-hit and an iconic pop culture phenomenon that has continued to generate profits for defendants Optimum Productions and Michael Jackson, who have wrongfully refused to pay or account for such profits to the plaintiff.”
Thriller was the most costly video of its time and has since become the most successful according to the Guinness World Records selling more than 1 million units.
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