A Michael Jackson film, which features footage of the late singer rehearsing for his proposed residency at the London O2 Arena, is to be released on 28 October. The film will be called This Is It, the same title given to the comeback shows Jackson was due to perform before he died on 25 June.
The agreement was reached between AEG Live, the promoters behind Jackson's scheduled 50-night London residency, and Columbia Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony, Jackson's record label.
According to reports, Columbia Pictures offered $60m for rights to the footage in a deal that will see 80% of the profits go to Jackson's children.
In July, AEG boss Randy Phillips revealed there was more than 100 hours of footage featuring Jackson rehearsing at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. "If we all do our jobs right, we could probably raise hundreds of millions of dollars just on the stuff we have worldwide and then the estate could eradicate its debt," Phillips said.
Details of the deal were revealed in a document released last week following a hearing over Jackson's estate. It has been reported that any agreement would ensure the film included no footage that portrayed the late singer in a negative way. The film will be given a PG certificate and Sony Pictures has said that it is being made with "the full support of the estate of Michael Jackson".
