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John Landis suing Michael Jackson?!

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iboz75

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I'm only going to post the non-offensive statement. you know how mean this warthog gets.

John Landis - the genius behind the Thriller music video - is suing for the 50% of the profits owed to him over the past 4 years.

Back in 1983, Landis' people entered into a contract with Jackson's people, granting Landis 50% of profits earned from the video. And yes, that includes Broadway adaptations.

Landis says that Jackson - or whoever is running his troubled finances - has failed to "provide any accounting of the Thriller profits for the past four years 'and earlier', and failing to pay Landis his 50 percent cut of the net proceeds."

I don't want to believe this:smilerolleyes:. Aren't they suppose to be currently working together?
 
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I just read this as well and I was wondering the same thing. I thought they were good friends, but if the money isn't getting distributed then action needs to be taken. I will wait until a more reliable source confirms it…
 
Shouldn't they be going after the record company and studio instead of Michael? I thought they were friends?

I guess there are no real friends in the buisness.:(
 
hell, the man didn't write or record the damned song, he just directed the video! OMG, GMAB!
 
I wonder if this could have been worked out a different way. Either that, or the only way to get Michael Jackson's attention is to shove a law suit in his face.
 
Who knows? But if it says 4 years, then what's really going on? There's a lot of value that goes into videos, believe it or not. I just didn't know John's people and Michael's people signed a deal together...
 
I don't understand this......correct me if I am wrong but Michael's not producing the Thriller Live musical is he?
Far as I understand it's Adrian Grant who is doing the whole thing so how can Landis sue Michael over it if he has nothing to do with it? :huh:

Also, why is Landis' company sueing Michael as an individual instead of just suing "Optimum Productions"?


Call me blonde but I don't get it. LOL
 
FOUR YEARS! Interesting, that's about when that dang trial started and certain folks weren't being paid.

Now I'm wondering what is going on behind the scenes, surely the Nederlander Organization did their "due diligence" before they signed any deal regarding Thriller.

This lawsuit is stamped January 21, 2009, which was last Wednesday. And the Nederlander deal was completed over the weekend, according to the New York trades. As always, there is a portion of this story that's missing. I just don't think any deals would have been signed, something is MISSING, in my opinion.
 
I remember something like this being discussed here on the board some time back. John was reported then (it was probably at least a yr or two ago) to be dismayed (for lack of a better word) at the failure to receive money owed to him from his work/contract related to Thriller.

Difficult for me to remember exactly what John said, but he was more upset at the difficulty getting what was owed him. I seem to recall he made positive remarks about Michael as a performer, etc., but was disappointed in the business handling of the situation.

Surely one of the older members can recall something about that when we discussed it?
 
bgz said:
I remember something like this being discussed here on the board some time back. John was reported then (it was probably at least a yr or two ago) to be dismayed (for lack of a better word) at the failure to receive money owed to him from his work/contract related to Thriller.

Difficult for me to remember exactly what John said, but he was more upset at the difficulty getting what was owed him. I seem to recall he made positive remarks about Michael as a performer, etc., but was disappointed in the business handling of the situation.

Surely one of the older members can recall something about that when we discussed it?
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Yeah I recalled John saying Mike was a great performer but a bad businessman or something like that. This is when that topic about Michael handling his business came about in this board.
 
I'm pretty sure Michael is being sued because Optimum is now defunct, and he owned it anyway. Here is there filmography

1. Michael Jackson: The One (2004) (TV) ... Production Company
2. Michael Jackson: Number Ones (2003) (V) ... Production Company (segments "Thriller", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel")
3. Bishôjo senshi Sêrâ Mûn sûpâ S - Sêrâ nain senshi shuuketsu! Black-Dream-Hole no kiseki (1995) ... Production Company
4. "Sailor Moon" (1995) ... Production Company
5. Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues (1988) (V) ... Production Company
6. Bad (1987) (V) ... Production Company
7. Thriller (1983) (V) ... Production Company
 
Oh and you mean to tell me that a lawsuit was filed against Michael Jackson on JANUARY 21ST and nobody in the media found out about it until today-January 27TH (6 days later).

That's weird all by itself. I mean, usually when something is filed against MJ, the media is notified 2 seconds later. LOL! I wonder what happened this time around.
 
Frankly, I've been waiting for this to happen. John Landis spoke about being owed money by MJ circa 2 years ago. I wrote on the forums that it sounded legit to me and fans bit my head off, saying if this is real he should sue, blah blah. Now he has.

MJ's record company have nothing to do with this. They were not a party to the agreement. Just read the thing. It's MJ's company and Landis' company. Just like Landis said back then.

It remains to be seen how much Landis can prove, but if he can show that he hasn't received squat over the past 4 years, it's pretty obvious that he's owed.

This is nothing to do with whether MJ and Landis are friends. Rest assured that Landis has tried getting the money amiacably.

Now I'm just waiting for Bruce Swedien to file his claim...
 
Big Apple, a deal was probably reached, who knows?

@ VeganMatt, yeah Optimum Productions has been defunct since '05, maybe that's why the lawsuit was filed, that's just my assumption.
 
Doesn't it state in the contract between Landis and Michael, that Michael (or Optimum Productions) has ALL the rights to the Thriller short film and Documentary (stated in part 6)???

I don't get this whole case lol
 
Call me blonde too but even tho this was contracted back then, how long
does Landis expect to be paid for the video? For as long as it's in exsistance?

JudgingNoone, thanks for saying that.
 
With all the turmoil surrounding Michael over the last 4-5yrs, and the revolving door of people handling his affairs, I wouldn't be surprised if somehow Michael thought things were being handled, if in fact, Michael was/is even aware of the whole thing.

Now with reports of a stage adaptation for Thriller in the works, plus the leasing of a home for $100,00 per month, etc., maybe John really feels the need to step up and address the situation for what he is owed since it doesn't appear to have been resolved.
 
troubleman84 said:
Big Apple, I saw an article that said no further plans were announced about the supposed "Thriller" Broadway play yet.
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I think they mean that no production team has be put together as of yet, but at the same time, in today's New York Post they had a large article stating that the Nederlander Organization paid $100,000 for the rights and the production team would have a $12 MILLION budget. Coming from the NY Post, you have to take what they say with a grain of salt of course, but it was the NY Post who first said that Nederlander was working towards a Thriller themed Broadway play and that was a few months ago.
 
Dutchie said:
Doesn't it state in the contract between Landis and Michael, that Michael (or Optimum Productions) has ALL the rights to the Thriller short film and Documentary (stated in part 6)???

I don't get this whole case lol
Click to expand...

Silouette said:
Call me blonde too but even tho this was contracted back then, how long
does Landis expect to be paid for the video? For as long as it's in exsistance?

JudgingNoone, thanks for saying that.
Click to expand...

It would seem logical to me that the contract was between John and Michael/Optimum, thus John was a partner and to be alloted his 50% share of all monies made from Thriller. I didn't see any apparent time frame for him to stop receiving his share within the legal document filed last week, either.
 
The man created the most famous music video of all time and they both entered a contract and he's not getting paid, can't blame him for wanting his money lol

Interesting to see how this one turns out.
 
Dutchie said:
Doesn't it state in the contract between Landis and Michael, that Michael (or Optimum Productions) has ALL the rights to the Thriller short film and Documentary (stated in part 6)???

I don't get this whole case lol
Click to expand...

As I understan Optimun/MJ have full rights to exploit the video/doc as they wish; meaning that Landis or his company can't prevent them from doing so...however, OP/MJ have to pay Landis his 50% share of any profits they make of it.
 
^^ I think that makes sense now, but in a way, MJ doesn't really own all of it if he has to pay, I always guess that's how these things run anyway... unless I'm wrong...
 
I think MJ owns the rights, so can do whatevs, just in the contract there is a clause saying profits will be split 50/50 on anything to do with the thriller video concept, like a broadway musical, and Thriller live.
 
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