Columbia Pictures paid $60 million for rights to the film, and the contract states Jackson's estate is slated to receive 90 percent of its profits after AEG recoups a portion of its expenditures. The film, planned to debut on October 30, is crafted from hundreds of hours of behind-the-scenes and rehearsal footage shot in LA just weeks before Jackson, who died on June 25, was to kick off his 50 "This is It" concerts in London.
An insurance policy taken out by AEG Live in preparation for Jackson’s planned 50-night run at London’s O2 Arena included cancellation clauses relating to the illegal possession or “illicit taking of drugs” by the artist.
The policy reportedly does, however, cover cancellation of the shows as a result of the artist’s death. But the potential multimillion-dollar outcome will hinge on the twice-delayed autopsy report.
More than six weeks after Jackson’s death, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office announced late Monday that an autopsy has been completed on the singer that details his cause of death. Those results, however, are being withheld indefinitely to allow police to complete their investigation.
"The investigation was thorough and comprehensive," a coroner's official explained in a news release. But in order to avoid interfering with the ongoing criminal probe by the Los Angeles Police Department into what might have killed the 50-year-old singer, the office will honor the LAPD's request to put the results on a "security hold."