Copyright PrincessGlam December 2010
Michael’s “Invincible” album was released in October 2001, and after that Michael did not release another album of new work for the 8 years to June 2009. To a non-Michael fan it would have appeared that Michael’s career was all washed-up, that he was not producing any new work, and that he was no longer ‘relevant’ in today’s music scene. So what was the reason for this seemingly barren period? A couple of fans have floated the idea that Sony had some tricky clauses in the contract that Michael signed in 1991, which was for 15 years, meaning that he could not leave Sony in 2006.
But there was another reason; after “Invincible”, he had wanted to leave the music world behind, and concentrate on a film career.
So what was Michael doing to realise this ambition? Well, he had been looking at some exciting non-music ventures for a number of years.
Kingdom Entertainment was launched on March 18 1996 by Michael Jackson and HRH Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal (pictured above). Its plan was to develop a total integrated global entertainment complex, and here is part of Michael’s speech from the launch:
“My earliest inspiration to be actively involved in all facets of the global multi-media explosion was derived from decades of travelling throughout the world. During these continuous concert tours, I was made privy to the heartbeats of millions of fans, who willingly shared with me their hopes, loves, fears and most importantly, their desire for a better life. It was during this time that I first began to appreciate that the proper approach to global family entertainment could go a long way in addressing these concerns.” See a full transcript
here.
The plans included :
· Peter Pan’s Neverland park,
· hotels,
· feature films,
· animation,
· recordings,
· educational entertainment,
· character licensing and merchandising.
Plan dated 24 May 1999. See more about the park here. Michael also set up a new record label with Sony, MJJ, which was to release CDs by new singers and groups. The Alwaleed-Jackson company acquired 50% ownership of Landmark Entertainment Group, famous for such design projects as the Forum shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and the Terminator II 3-D ride at Universal Studio's park in Orlando, Florida. The Prince already owned 24% of Disneyland Paris, and he awarded 5% of Landmark Entertainment Group to Michael Jackson. Source Michael released his 1997 “Ghosts” music video CD under Kingdom Entertainment, with Optimum Productions, Michael’s video company. (This company also produced the 2010 “Hold My Hand” video). Optimum Productions Inc is a private company categorized under Music Production Consultants and located in West Hollywood, CA. Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of 950,000 and employs a staff of approximately 13.
Unfortunately, there is scant information on the internet about the fate of this venture, but the rumor is that the partnership was dissolved after a few years, and Michael sold his 5% share of Landmark Entertainment Group in the late 90’s.
Majestic Kingdom was announced on 19 July 1998 at a press conference in New York. It was a joint venture with Michael and Detroit millionaire Don Barden.
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| Michael at the Majestic Kingdom press conference. |
The $1 billion plan included :
· an 800 room hotel and casino
· botanical gardens
· restaurants,
· nightclubs
· a Michael Jackson Thriller Theme Park with a roller coaster with bubble-enclosed cars for wintertime rides Source All this was to be built on the west riverfront in Detroit. Unfortunately, Barden and Michael were denied a casino license by Detroit City Council. Barden then organized a referendum drive to overturn the council's decision, but that failed. On August 4, 1998, Detroiters voted against the proposal. Source
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| 09 June 1999 |
In 1999 it was reported that Michael was to star in an upcoming film called "The Nightmare Of Edgar Allan Poe." The film was scheduled to start shooting in Montreal in the Fall of 2000. The film's producer, Gary Pudney, told the "Post" that "Michael has always been fascinated by the writings of Poe and by his bizarre death at age 40." He also says that Michael's next album may be his last, as the singer "quite rightly" feels that he's done all that there is to be done music, and that after the album is out, Michael plans to devote his time to the movie business. Source
"Michael says by the time he’s done preparing for this, the audience isn’t even going to know it’s him, with the major makeup,” co-executive producer Gary Pudney told USA Today’s Jeannie Williams in 2000. “The new Michael is Michael Jackson, the movie actor. That is what he wants to devote his energies to.” Michael pronounced the script as “very scary”, and although the movie was not a musical, he planned to sing a song with lyrics based on Poe’s poetry over the closing credits. Producer Pudney said Michael had talked to Steven Spielberg about the project, who was enthusiastic and suggested several potential directors, including Tim Burton. Pudney also boasted that the movie, in which characters from Poe’s work came back to haunt the author during the last week of his life, would give Michael a “great death scene.” Source Gary Pudney spoke to “The Columbus Dispatch” in 2000: “Michael Jackson will move to Montreal with his two children in early 2001 to prepare for the shooting of his long-planned movie.” Production was to begin in March and Michael would be acting in the leading role and also was to be executive producer, with Gary Pudney and Jim Green. Gary Pudney told columnist Marilyn Beck: “Michael’s not going to look exactly like Poe, but you won’t be able to tell the difference between them 10 minutes into the picture, it’s going to be absolutely spectacular, full of gruesome goodies – and concluding with all the ghosts Poe wrote about coming back to haunt him at the end of his life. We’ll also be hiring six to eight other incredible actors to help bring Michael up to snuff, he’ll have an acting coach prior to production and during shooting.” Michael is currently writing the theme song, which he will sing. Gary Pudney: “He wants to concentrate on films, we’re already planning on more Poe films, and there are one or two other pictures we are also talking about doing. Michael is wired into the hierarchy of Hollywood – people like Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor, with whom he wants to work – and vice versa.” Source
In August 2002, it was reported that Michael and Gary Pudney were looking for a producer for the film, and that Michael was taking acting lessons from Marlon Brando, but the film never materialised.
Neverland Entertainment Company was formed by Michael Jackson and Indian producer Raju Sharad Patel on 23 February 2002. Neverland Entertainment also signed an agreement with Mark Damon's MDP Worldwide Entertainment Inc to enter into an investment and partnership for all of MDP's film production.
The agreement provided for a capital infusion of approximately $ 15 to 20 million in MDP by Neverland, which made them a major shareholder in MDP, which has
traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. With the investment by Neverland, that plan was for MDP to operate a new division called Neverland Pictures which was to be the production arm of MDP, which had distributed films like Never Say Never Again, Das Boot, 9 1/2 Weeks, Short Circuit, Prizzi's Honor and the recent The Musketeer.
Michael was quoted as saying "Both Raju and I love the way classic stories can be reinvented for the screen. My favourite movies such as Raju's Jungle Book and Pinnocchio were re-imagined as major features and produced outside the traditional studio system. Films have always been a passion for me as a fan and as an artiste and there is nothing in the world like the magic captured forever in a time capsule like motion picture images."
At the launch Michael said “I dream great dreams," Michael Jackson said. "Everything I've achieved started with a dream, and of all the dreams, this is the one I am most passionate about. The painter paints, the sculptor sculpts, but they just capture a glimpse of life -- of the subject. And film, this medium, you live with the protagonist, you suffer with the protagonist, you laugh with the protagonist, you despair with the protagonist. It's the most artistic, influential medium of all. I am very proud of what we're doing, and I promise you wonderful and fantastical things to come."
After his onstage appearance, the notoriously shy King of Pop elaborated in an interview about his plans for Neverland Pictures. He said he will be involved in all aspects of the company, such as reading scripts, plucking talent and directing.
"I have a lot to express in film," Michael Jackson said, revealing that his favorite movie is "To Kill a Mockingbird." "I'll be doing the whole thing, behind and in front (of the camera). I love it." Source The first films under the Neverland banner were to be “The United States of Leland” helmed by Mathew Ryan Hoge, “The Extremists” directed by Christian Duguay and “Fearcom” directed by William Malone."We are also making another film with Arnold Schwarznegger," said Patel. Source In May 2002 Michael announced at the Cannes film festival that he will produce a £20m movie - titled Wolfed - as well as being the star. “In the first movie being made under his Neverland Pictures banner, Michael Jackson will play a werewolf in a project he will also produce called Wolfed. Rick Baker, Oscar-winning makeup expert who created the werewolf effects for An American Werewolf In London and Thriller, is already on board. Neverland's financing and sales partner Mark Damon and his MDP Worldwide is introducing the $30m project to buyers in Cannes.
The film will be a Gothic thriller faithfully adapted from the little-known Alexandre Dumas novel The Wolf Leader. It tells the story of Thibault, the son of a shoemaker in 17th Century France, who is nearly beaten to death by a group of aristocrats and is saved only by making a pact with the devil which appears as a large black wolf. The devil offers Thibault the power to harm or kill anyone he wishes, but the more evil acts he commits, the more he starts turning into a wolf and becoming one of a pack of killer wolves .No director is yet attached to Wolfed, although a screenwriter is currently in negotiations to begin work on the adaptation. Jackson's partner in Neverland Raju Patel is co-producing with Jackson, who, said Damon, will supervise all script development and casting decisions. Sammy Lee, Damon, Lawrence Mortorff and Ron Moler are executive producers. Source
“The United States of Leland” was made in 2003, but I have not been able to confirm if Neverland Pictures was the production company.
In October 2003 MDP Worldwide Entertainment Inc changed its name to Media 8 Entertainment, and interestingly, in the 2004 annual report, Brett Ratner (a friend of Michael’s) was listed as a production affiliate.
Sadly, in 2005 Raju Sharad Patel died of bowel cancer. At the time he was working with Michael on a film called “Hanuman”, and in 2007 Raju’s brother Uru vowed to complete the film for his late brother. But again I have been unable to determine if Neverland Pictures was still an active company after 2005.
In May 2002 it was reported that Michael was teaming up with writer-director Bryan Michael Stoller on a big-screen adaptation of a book called They Cage the Animals at Night by Jennings Michael Burch. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the book is the true story of the author's account of being left at an orphanage and moving around from one foster home to another. Michael and Stoller met in 1997 when Stoller introduced him to child actor Brandon Adams, who went on to appear in Michael's Moonwalker. Their friendship rekindled when Michael invited Stoller to screen his 1999 film "Undercover Angel," which starred Yasmine Bleeth and Dean Winters, at Neverland Ranch.The British newspaper The Guardian reported in 2009 about the progress of Cage the Animals at Night: “the movie had been canned because of Michael’s trial, but Michael and Bryan Stoller met up later, watching dozens of films at the Neverland cinema including Jackson's favourite, To Kill a Mockingbird. Stoller said they discussed filming a remake of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
Billboard carried an article in 2009 that said “Stoller optioned the book for $1 -- initially without telling Burch about Michael’s involvement. When he did tell him, Stoller said the author was excited to work with the singer. Michael, meanwhile, was concerned that Burch, then 67 and suffering from cancer, might not survive to see the movie made. So Stoller suggested bringing Burch to Neverland in 2003, where Michael turned the tables and interviewed him for what was to be a TV special and for the eventual DVD. During their highly charged conversation he asked the author if he had ever considered suicide. Burch said he had, and Michael said he too had considered it during his darkest days. Stoller recorded their meeting, which added to a collection of videos he made with Michael over the years, and to hours of audio recordings from their meetings.
In 2003 the producer arranged a three-hour meeting in a Universal City hotel between Michael and Mel Gibson, who is a producer and partner in Icon Prods. "They got along great," Stoller said. "It was kind of funny. Mel was a little nervous. He was hugging a pillow the whole time, kind of playing with it. Michael was kind of shy."
Icon signed a deal to develop the project with a budget of $12 million-$20 million, according to Stoller, who was paid by Icon to write the screenplay. A spokesman for Icon said the company briefly was involved in developing it in 1995 but had lost interest by 1997. Stoller has a copy of his contract with Icon dated 2002.
"When Jackson called in 2007, he still had movies on his mind," Stoller said. "He had begun to purchase movie production equipment. He was always asking how things work, but I never saw him really work things. But he wanted all the toys. He bought a dolly and wanted me to show the kids how to use it because they were using it as a play toy, riding around on it."
Michael wasn't interested in making a blockbuster. "He wanted to do movies the Academy would like," Stoller recalled.Three months before his death, Stoller said he and Michael had "a pretty serious meeting" about reviving "They Cage the Animals" as an indie feature."Michael was going to put up $8 million and not have to deal with any studios or producers and then take it to the studios afterward," Stoller said. "He was very passionate about being a director. He was determined to make this movie."”
Below is a link to a clip of Michael with Michael Burch.
http://video.hollywoodreporter.com/services/player/bcpid769343686?bctid=30221875001
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| 01 June 2003 |
MJ Universe is the title of a project that Dieter Weisner and Ronald Konitzer were working on for Michael in 2003. This project was in all intents and purposes a Michael Jackson comeback project, or at the very least a Michael Jackson rebranding project. It was to be a huge entertainment platform, which would consist of many small companies, and these companies were set-up by Michael and his team. Here are some of the plans which have been reported online:
· The Internet was to be used as a platform for the plan. A web design company called Blast Radius was secretly working on a brand new official Michael Jackson website, because his old one was owned by Sony (whom Michael was in dispute with at the time). Michael registered a new company on 4th March 2003 called Neverland Productions LLC. Their website is www.neverlandentertainment.net · Neverland ranch was to be opened to the public as a resort for short breaks.
· A Michael Jackson clothing line (subsequently there were rumours in 2007 of a collaboration with Roberto Cavalli, and in 2008 with Christian Audigier for clothing lines).
· A theme park
· The purchase of Cinegroupe, a Canadian animated features company from Montreal.
· A book full of photographs, to be called “Michael Jackson – King Of Pop – The Legend”.
· The occasional concert, at famous landmarks e.g. the pyramids at Giza, over two or three years.
In 2003 Michael had thought that the single “One More Chance” would be his last contractual obligation to Sony, and that afterwards he would be able to move forward into his new career. But after one day of filming the video “One More Chance”, Neverland was raided by sheriffs from the Santa Barbara Police Department, and the plans for MJ Universe were eventually mothballed. Michael’s arrest and trial followed, and after his acquittal of all 14 charges Michael needed time and space to recuperate. Source
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| 08 March 2009 |
It is likely, therefore, that Michael saw the 10 date This Is It concerts in 2009 as a way to get back on track with his entertainment plans. It would raise his profile as well as generate some cash flow. He went to great lengths at the O2 press conference to stress that these would be his final performances in London, his final curtain call, and although some have speculated this was just a ruse to whip up interest in ticket sales, I’m thinking that Michael really meant it. Maybe his management at the time had different ideas, but it’s pretty clear to me that Michael saw this as the beginning of the end of his performing career.
Here’s what Randy Phillips about the AEG deal in March 2009:
“I gave them the plan I had been working on - a four-year period of him playing live, releasing new music and a whole other bunch of commercial tie-ins including a new version of Thriller in 3D that would open on Halloween."
If we include the deals that Michael allegedly discussed with John Branca on 17th June, the list we have so far for the 2009 plans are:
· Maximum 31 concerts
· Coffee table book ( realised as “Michael Jackson Opus”)
· Merchandise (realised as the “Michael Jackson Official Store” managed by Bravado with designs approved by Michael)
· Concert movie (realised as “This is it”)
· Broadway musical
· Major charity event involving First Lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey
· 3D Thriller
· New music
· Completion of the film “Ghosts” So were any of Michael’s other ideas realised? Well in 2008 Michael entered into a joint venture with Colony Capital , to retain the deeds of Neverland. Tom Barrack of Colony Capital has since been holding private functions at Neverland (not opening it for short breaks as proposed in MJ Universe), and he has said that the plan for Neverland is that it will either be sold to an individual, or will be used for philanthropic purposes. Now I don’t know much about real estate, but I do know that anyone who purchases property as an investment wants to make as much profit from it as possible. Typically, they would build as many dwellings as permitted. But Tom Barrack was talking about philanthropic purposes, which sounds like something Michael’s would say, so this tells me that possibly Michael still had a say in what happened to Neverland, and possibly had clauses to this effect written into the joint venture.
Then I read about Meadowlands Xanadu, New Jersey. This isn’t a theme park exactly, but it will combine entertainment, shopping and attractions aimed at the friends and family market, at a cost of $2.3 billion. Could it be the realisation of another idea from MJ Universe and Kingdom Entertainment? The project started in 2003 (there is that date again) with concerts to be provided by AEG Live. (Hmm AEG again!). But the project has been hit by the worldwide financial crisis and the collapse in 2008 of Lehman Brothers, who were providing the financing. But guess who were leading the project since 2006; Colony Capital LLC (the company that is joint owner of Neverland). However, they are longer leading the project, following the collapse of Lehman brothers, and have turned it over to their lenders as of August 2010. The five lenders include Credit Suisse Group AG, Capmark Financial Group, and an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Fortress is the company that refinanced Michael’s Neverland loan in 2005 and then sold it to Colony Capital. Come on now, I know Michael moved with the big business guns, but this is starting to look a little incestuous. Three companies that have had dealings with Michael in the last 5 years are working together on Meadowlands Xanadu!
In October 2010 it was announced that Michael’s musical “Sisterella” would be remounted, and start playing at a theatre in Los Angeles from 2011. Michael’s manager, Frank DiLeo, is producing the musical, and it is rumored that Michael’s nephew, TJ will take the lead male role, which was written for Michael. Shows rarely open on Broadway without doing the rounds of provincial first , so this could be another of Michael’s MJ Universe plans becoming reality.
With regards to the Michael Jackson clothing line, the last update was that Christian Audigier would start selling his range of 100 designs approved by Michael at L.A. boutique Kitson, pending authorisation from the Estate. A quick search of the Kitson online store tells me that this has not yet materialised, but I did find that they stock a ‘Babies Go Michael Jackson’ CD, which Michael would adore.
There have also been rumors on fan sites and forums that Michael was a major shareholder in the Palace of the Lost City, part of Sun City in South Africa. The source of the rumor seems to be a sentence in Frommer’s online guide to South Africa, which said “The theme (that of a "lost city" that has been rediscovered and restored) is sometimes carried to ridiculous extremes, but the craftsmanship is world-class; the fantasy landscape is quite overwhelming. With Michael Jackson a majority shareholder, things can only get weirder”. The page has now been removed entirely, but it was there as of 27 November 2010. I have not been able to substantiate this rumor with online research, but Michael definitely has visited Sun City – here is a photo dated 12 October 1997.
UPDATE 31 December 2010
In the British documentary ‘Michael Jackson’s Secret Hollywood’ Dieter Wiesner showed his plan for MJ Universe to the camera. The plan was in the form of a bubble diagram, and some of the writing was too small to be legible, so I have used a question mark in those instances, and I have converted the plan to text for ease of including on the blog:
MJ Center located at Neverland II →Philanthropy
→Mentor Program
→MJ Museum
MJ Content Galaxy →Film Projects
→Misc Content →Peter Pan
→Biography
→Game Projects
→Music Projects →?
→Production
MJ Marketing Galaxy →Licensing/Franchising →?
→?
→Publishing →Biography
→Films?
→’Mega Star Marketing’
→’Short Films’ →?
→Internet
→Merchandising
→Strategic Partnerships →?
→?
→Public Relations/CI →?
→?
MJ Developments →Culver
→Schools for America
→’Family Cities’
→Neverland II →Museum
→Theme Park
→?
MJ Strategic Investment →MJM
→Apple
→New Technologies
→Other
MJ New Technology Galaxy →ECG Streaming Videos
→MDC
→New Virtual Technologies →3D
→Hologram
→?
Of these, the elements which caught my eye were firstly, that there was to be a Neverland II, and this was back in 2003 BEFORE the trial and before Michael left Neverland I. He wanted a museum at Neverland II and he wanted a mentor program there. When the contents of Neverland were rescued from the Juliens auction in April 2009, it was reported that they would be going into a museum. Subsequently, some of the items have formed part of an exhibition which started in London in 2009, and moved to Tokyo in 2010. So the museum element has become reality. Then just a few weeks ago, we heard a rumor that Neverland I was going to be turned into a music school to mentor teenagers. Could this be the mentor program being realised?
Next, I noticed that Michael was planning to move into new technologies, including 3D and holograms. Michael’s This Is It concerts were to have 3D elements, and holograms of Michael have been touted for tribute concerts, since 25 June 2009. There were to be game projects, and we already have ‘The Michael Jackson Experience’ on Wii, Nintendo DS and PSP in shops.
Then I noticed the word ‘Culver’. In the documentary, Dieter hid this word with his hand (was that deliberate on his part?), but Michael clearly was looking at developments involving Culver. I am assuming this is Culver Studios, and we know that the Dome Project was filmed as Culver Studios from 1 to 11 June 2009. This is where the 3D footage to be included in the TII concerts was shot. But what else did he want to do at Culver, and was there anything else filmed there we have yet to see?
