The King of Pop might have passed on, but his music continues to drag in bags of cash. And if GK films has its way, Michael Jackson’s most famous video will end up becoming the basis for a new film, with several studios competing for the chance to turn Thriller into a fully-fledged fright-fest.
You’ll likely know that John Landis directed the original music video, back in his **American Werewolf **days. But while he’d surely be a great choice to make any film based on his groundbreaking work, the man attached to direct the new movie is… er… Kenny Ortega. Who admittedly has some experience with Jackson’s work, having shot footage during his This Is It rehearsals that ended up becoming the film of the same name. Ortega doesn’t exactly have a big horror resume, though he did make Hocus Pocus, but he's a choreographer from way back on everything from Xanadu to Ferris Bueller's Day Off to Dirty Dancing, so he's be down with that side of things. Michael Peters, who choreographed Thriller with Jackson, sadly passed away in 1994 or we imagine that someone would be calling him up now.
According to Deadline, Summit, Lionsgate and Fox 2000 are all eager to nab the rights package, which includes the services of Thriller song writer Rod Temperton and The Hangover co-writer Jeremy Garelick on scripting duties. And whoever wins the film will also have to wait until a deal is settled with Jackson’s estate for the music.
As for the plot, there’s not a lot of information out there right now, except for some speculation that it might focus on the town seen in the video and Vincent Price’s memorable character, since the horror legend provides the narration (and a rap!) in the video.
So... Thriller: The Movie, then. Bad idea? Horrible idea? Or genius? And no jokes about the picture being a current shot of Jacko, please...