Studios Scramble to Bring Jackson “This Is It” Rehearsals to Theaters

Negotiations are reportedly underway between most of the major movie studios to secure the distribution rights to a film based on Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for his planned This Is It concerts, the AP reports. According to the AP, executives from Sony, Paramount, Universal and 20th Century Fox were all shown rehearsal footage, and Sony Corp. reportedly offered $50 million for the distribution rights. Sony appears to be the likeliest destination for the film, as the company already distributes Jackson’s catalog and has a 50/50 stake in the Sony/ATV Music Publishing deal with the Jackson estate. Footage of Jackson and his dancers performing “They Don’t Care About Us” during rehearsals was previously unveiled.

Whoever wins the bidding war will produce the film along with AEG Live — the concert promoters staging the This Is It concerts, who filmed Jackson’s rehearsals at Los Angeles’ Staples Center — as well as the Jackson estate. The high bid seems to back AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips’ claims that Michael was in good health during the rehearsals.

Additionally, AEG Live is also reportedly in talks to turn the This Is It concert into a TV special directed by Kenny Ortega, which could be the rumored all-star tribute discussed in the weeks following Jackson’s death. NBC is reportedly the front runner to acquire the television special with the price somewhere in the tens of millions. As Rock Daily previously reported, 31 million viewers watched the Jackson memorial on TV and roughly 30 million more streamed the video online during its Tuesday afternoon simulcast, suggesting a TV special would likely produce just south of Super Bowl numbers.

According to the AP, John McClain and John Branca, the two men named as executors in Jackson’s 2002 will, have been working quickly to secure deals for assets like the This Is It recordings in order to take advantage of the recent spike in Jackson-related sales. Since the King of Pop’s death, Jackson’s albums and compilations have surged up the charts from relative dormancy, and MTV reported yesterday that Jackson’s Thriller is on the verge of usurping the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) as the highest-selling album of all time.

McClain is reportedly also digging through Jackson’s vaults of unreleased material, a treasure trove that features songs like “A Place With No Name”, a portion of which leaked last week.

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Unreleased Michael Jackson- Hear it now. - "A place with no name"

Sony Music boss Tommy Mottola says that there are unreleased Michael Jackson songs that go back decades, and the first of them managed to sneak out onto the Internet. found and posted a snippet of a song called "A Place With No Name," which borrows heavily from America's 1971 hit "A Horse With No Name." shared a manger with the band in the late '80s and early '90s, though it's unclear when the song (which sounds like a fairly rough demo) was actually recorded.

In the weeks after Michael Jackson's death, his No. 1 hits have been blasted in car stereos, retail stores and public memorials. And industry experts say Jackson may continue to burn up the charts with a reported a stash of unreleased music that could earn his estate millions.

"What we have seen happen in the last three weeks is that the albums that are out here right now are selling in amazing numbers," Jim Henke, curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, told "Good Morning America." "I think we are going to see amazing interest in any released Michael Jackson material that will come out in the future or a year from now on."

Jackson died June 25 of apparent cardiac arrest at his rented Los Angeles home. Since his death, his albums and singles have rocketed to the top of the charts once again.

He wouldn't be the first chart-topping entertainer to release . John Lennon did it with "Woman," released a month after he was murdered in 1980. Otis Redding's "Dock of the Bay" became a hit just weeks after his death in 1967.

And a string of Tupac albums have been released since the rapper was gunned down more than a decade ago.

unearthed a portion of a unreleased Jackson track called "A Place With No Name," possibly his take on the song "A Horse with No Name" by America.

There are reportedly many more songs Jackson recorded, now sitting in a vault, that could eventually be release .

The songis remarkably similar to the 1972 America hit "A Horse With No Name." According to TMZ, the band gave their blessing to Jackson's revamp. There is no information at present about when the song was recorded.
America's manager, Jim Morey, managed Jackson in the late '80s and early '90s, and said that Jackson was granted permission to record the song.

"The band was honored that Michael chose to do their song and they hope it becomes available for all Michael's fans to hear," Morey told TMZ.

Click here to hear Michael Jackson's version - PLAY - "A Place with no name"



A Horse With No Name - Below is the original version.