Thriller Musical Hits Legal Snag
Not so fast on reserving tickets for that "Thriller" musical. John Landis, the director and co-writer of the original video, is suing to get the thing stopped, claiming that Michael Jackson owes him money.
Landis has sued Jackson over the 1983 creepfest video before, as he still has a 50% share of the video's rights. But when Jackson sold them to the Nederlander Organization, a large theater production company, he says the creepy singer essentially got $400,000 of what should have been Landis' money. According to Landis, MJ hasn't paid him any royalties on the property for about four years, so the stage rights really weren't his alone to sell, nor should the Nederlander have snapped them up so quickly.
So we'll have to wait and see. If Landis and Jackson can resolve their zombie dance-off, then maybe we can go full steam ahead with the stage musical based on 14 minutes of material. If not, the world will have to go without. [Daily Mail]