Jackson’s album to become a movie

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Michael Jackson. Hürriyet photo

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Michael Jackson’s “Bad” album. Legendary director Spike Lee is in the final stages of post-production on a documentary about this 1987 album, British daily Guardian reported on July 11.

 The director has uncovered a “treasure chest” of footage, he said, including home movies and behind-the-scenes clips. Lee has also conducted about 40 interviews with the likes of Kanye West and Mariah Carey, as well as many of Jackson’s studio collaborators. Lee has had the full co-operation of Jackson’s estate in making the movie.

The as yet unnamed film is due later this year, to co-ordinate with Bad’s 25th anniversary reissue in September. And just as the remastered album will include an expanded track-list, Lee’s documentary will incorporate lots of unreleased songs. “[Michael] wrote 60 demos for the Bad record,” he said. “Only 11 made it. So we got to hear a lot of that stuff, too.”

A fan of Jackson’s since his childhood, Lee collaborated with the singer in the mid-90s, shooting two videos for the song They Don’t Care About Us. More recently, Lee directed a video for Jackson’s posthumous 2009 single, This Is It. “I’m more than just a huge fan of Michael Jackson,” Lee said. “And having the chance to actually know him and work with him, I deeply care about his legacy.”

The director has also begun hosting an annual Michael Jackson birthday party in Brooklyn: “It’s going to be even bigger and better this year,” he said. This bash, which is open to the public, takes place on 25 August, according to the newspaper.

“Bad,” Jackson’s seventh studio album, is the fifth-bestselling album of all time.