MTV Movies Blog › michael jackson

Hollywood actors, better start practicing your best moon walk and memorizing the "Thriller" dance.

Showblitz is reporting that Michael Jackson's estate is shopping the idea for a biopic for the late pop star around Hollywood. Apparently Ivan Reitman and Tom Pollock's production company has been approached about potentially producing the project. Apparently the pic would only cover certain periods of Jackson's life (read: some Neverland controversies may never be told). Now it's time for the speculation for who should play the King of Pop to begin!

Check out the rest of today's film news after the jump!

Read more...

Tags bill nighy, Butter, cleopatra, Eric Roth, Gods and Kings, I Frankenstein, Imogene, michael jackson, steven spielberg

Long-time personal friend of Michael Jackson, David Gest, has never been quiet about his opinions when it comes to the late performer. A new documentary, "Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon," which Gest produced, attacks the charges of child molestation head on and defends the legacy of the iconic singer.

Now with a verdict imminent in the manslaughter case against Jackson's former physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, Gest took some time to talk to MTV News about the trial and why he says he hasn't been following it.

"I find it too hard to watch," Gest told MTV News. Gest and Jackson had spent much of their early lives as very close friends, and that connection is what has made the trial so difficult. "I knew Michael so well that I just find it too hard to watch."

Read more...

Tags conrad murray, david gest, michael jackson, Michael Jackson The Life of an Icon

FROM MTV MOVIES: Michael Jackson may have dubbed himself the King of Pop, but the late icon didn't hold the box-office crown for long. Less than a year after the posthumous MJ documentary "This Is It" became the most successful concert-themed film in U.S. history, Justin Bieber is poised to snatch the mantle.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" has earned $72.2 million in domestic box office so far, passing Jackson's $72.1 million haul. And while Bieber has racked up those impressive numbers in just six weeks, he's got a long way to go before he laps the global receipts for the MJ doc.

"This Is It" has grossed $189.1 million overseas for a global total of $261.2 million. Music films don't typically play well overseas, and THR noted that "Never Say Never" has grossed a more modest $10.8 million overseas so far, with Paramount executives predicting that it could top out around $20 million internationally.

Head over to MTV News for the full story!

Tags justin bieber, michael jackson, never say never, This Is It

This might be it for those reports of a feature film adaptation of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," boys and girls, as the proposed director himself says that talk of the movie is premature at best.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, "High School Musical" and "This Is It" director Kenny Ortega said that he hasn't given the reported "Thriller" adaptation too much thought just yet. Indeed, the very fact that the project has been mentioned publicly is a bit early, according to Ortega.

"It got put out there before I've even really had a chance to think about it too much," he said. "It’s still in very, very early stages of development." Read more...

Tags kenny ortega, michael jackson, Thriller

Will the greatest music video of all time make for one of the greatest movies of all time? We may soon find out. According to Deadline, "This Is It" and "High School Musical" director Kenny Ortega is looking to direct a film based on Michael Jackson's famous music video "Thriller."

Several studios including Fox 2000, Mandate/Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment are looking to pick up the project, which is being budgeted at around $50 million, but further negotiations are waiting on a deal to be completed with Jackson's estate.

The script will be written by "The Hangover"'s Jeremy Garelick (interesting choice), and is said to follow the basic folklore of the music video "involving Vincent Price and the town he grew up in." It's also unclear whether the film will be a musical, though Ortega's involvement would seem to suggest that this is indeed the case. Read more...

Tags justin timberlake, kenny ortega, michael jackson, This Is It, Thriller

Last Friday marked the one year mark since the passing of pop sensation Michael Jackson. While he certainly had his ups-and-downs in life, Jackson remains one of the most influential artists of the modern music age and the anniversary of his death was the emphasis of numerous weekend celebrations.

Jackie Chan is a known Jackson fan. In May he paid $250,000 for the fallen pop star's famous glove, a congratulatory gift for Chan's son Jaycee, who had just released an album. Now that glove has been auctioned off again, part of a lot of Jackson memorabilia that brought in around $1 million for charity. In today's Daily TwitPic, Chan poses with the coveted item one last time before shipping it off to be sold to the highest bidder. Read more...

Tags jackie chan, michael jackson

"Eclipse" cast members, Twitter-Wood entourages and MTV News all converged on the new "Twilight" film's premiere yesterday, and everyone who didn't make it can feel free to live vicariously through the posts that resulted after the jump.

Today, meanwhile, marks one year since Michael Jackson passed away, and Mariah Carey and Diddy both spoke out via Twitter about his death. June 25, 2009, was one of the busiest days the Twitter-Wood feed has ever seen, by the way. If you'd like to read a collection of tweets from the day of Jackson's death, feel free to look back into our archives.

As for today's retweets, they're all listed below in the world premiere of Twitter-Wood for June 25, 2010. Read more...

Tags alex meraz, chloe moretz, Conan O'Brien, diddy, Edi Gathegi, jackie chan, Jaime King, Jodelle Ferland, mariah carey, michael jackson, tinsel korey, Twitter-Wood

As we told you earlier in the week, Disney is re-opening the classic 3-D attraction "Captain EO," a sci-fi short starring Michael Jackson as a starship captain tasked with delivering a gift to the wicked Witch Queen (Angelica Huston). With some help from the power of song, Jackson and his crew overpower the queen and teach her that it's okay to be good.

Touching. The attraction re-opened yesterday, complete with a shiny new 70mm print. We've got some video from the event, that you can check out below. And of course, if you want to see "EO" you can head to a Disney theme park. Or wait for the (hopefully) inevitable 3-D Blu-ray release, which I expect will arrive sometime after 3-D display technologies have been adopted by the public at large.

Tags captain eo, michael jackson, Video

It's been known for awhile now that the higher powers at Disney intend to bring "Captain EO" back. The sudden passing of Michael Jackson last summer led to a renewed interest in the 3-D sci-fi movie/theme park attraction. Really, it was inevitable that it would return.

The word straight from the Mouse House is that "EO" will be back on Tuesday, February 23. Yes, that's tomorrow. The 3-D musical will screen in the theme park's Tomorrowland Theater, complete with a shiny new 70mm print and improved sound thanks to "acoustic enhancements made to the theater since the film last played there in 1997." Read more...

Tags captain eo, michael jackson

The Hughes brothers have a way of attracting top-notch Hollywood talent to their films: Johnny Depp in "From Hell," Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman in the upcoming "Book of Eli." At the top of their movie wish list, though, is one artist known far more for his music—and for his spectacularly sordid final days—than for his acting.

"This is going to sound strange, but Michael Jackson was an incredible actor and no one knew that," Allen Hughes told MTV News.

"If you look at the nuances of 'The Wiz,' when he played the Scarecrow. Or if you look at the short film Scorsese directed before 'Bad,' where he's going head to head with Wesley Snipes. The acting he was doing? Oh my god it was good. I know actors and he was an incredible actor." Read more...

Tags allen hughes, hughes brothers, michael jackson