Spike Lee Finishing Michael Jackson Documentary

Movie focuses on the singer's 'Bad' album.
By Gil Kaufman

<P>Director Spike Lee is finishing work on an upcoming documentary about Michael Jackson's landmark 1987 <I>Bad</I> album that will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the <I>Thriller</I> follow-up that has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.</P><P>Lee, who was friends with the late pop king and directed the official video for the posthumous single "This Is It,"&#8232;, said he learned a lot about MJ while making the as-yet-untitled movie.</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Behind The Scenes Of 'Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour'" id="vid:755805" width="415" height="255"></div><p></P><P>According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie will be part of a celebration of the 25th anniversary of <I>Bad</I>. "We have footage in this documentary that no one's ever seen, stuff that Michael shot himself, behind-the-scenes stuff," Lee said. "We had complete access to the vaults of Michael Jackson. ... He wrote 60 demos for the <I>Bad</I> record. Only 11 made it. So we got to hear a lot of that stuff, too, so it was just a great experience ... You don't have to be a Michael Jackson-head to enjoy this." <I>Bad</I>, which was released more than five years after Jackson's breakthrough, <I>Thriller</I>, the best-selling album of all time, is also one of the all-time top-sellers. In a record tied by Katy Perry last year, it spawned five Hot 100 #1 singles, including "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana."</P><P>The 25th anniversary re-release of <I>Bad</I> will hit shelves on September 18 and feature additional tracks, a DVD and other material. No release date has been announced yet for Lee's documentary, though it is slated to hit screens this year.</P><P>Lee sat down with everyone from Kanye West to Mariah Carey and Sheryl Crow (who was a back-up singer on the <I>Bad</I> tour) for the film, which he said will show fans a more personal, funny side of MJ. "We really divided it into two things: Artists today who were influenced by Michael, and then people who worked side by side - musicians, songwriters, technicians, engineers, people at the label, who were all committed to Michael, to the follow-up to the biggest record of all time, which still is <I>Thriller</I>," he said.</P><P>A doc chronicling Jackson's rehearsals for what was to be his series of comeback shows, "This Is It,"&#8232; was released in 2009 and became one of the highest-grossing music docs of all time.</P><P></P>

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