Michael Jackson estate sued over ‘fans’ film

The Michael Jackson estate is being sued for allegedly blocking a tribute film to his fans, which the singer wanted to make before his death six years ago.

The suit was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court by film producer Sharad Chandra Patel on behalf of his late filmmaker son Raju, who was a close friend of Jackson’s. Raju’s movies included The New Adventures of Pinocchio and 1994 version of The Jungle Book called Bachelor Party.

According to court documents, accessed by The Hollywood Reporter, Patel claims his son and Jackson set up Neverland Entertainment in 2002 agreeing to a 50-50 profit split.

In 2005, Jackson and Patel finalised a deal to make Messages To Michael, as a tribute to his millions of fans who stood by him during the 2003 child molestation arrest. As part of the deal, Jackson promised to hand over pre-existing materials as music rights and home video footage for use in the movie.

Patel Jr. was already battling cancer (he died three months later) and the lawsuit claims that the contract allowed Patel to pass his share of the rights to his father.

After Jackson’s death in June 2009, Sharad Patel tried to get the promised footage and songs from the singer’s estate. But, he says, estate executors John Branca and John McClain have not complied. Instead, Patel contends, the estate teamed up instead with Sony to make the 2010 documentary film This Is It (with never before released footage) in which it got 90% of proceeds.

According to the lawsuit, “Michael wanted to create a film tribute to the dedicated fans who stood by him during difficult times when many others turned their backs on Michael. Michael trusted his good friend and filmmaker, Raju, to make the film a reality. But (the executor) have disregarded the terms of the agreement, as well as Michael’s wishes for his fans, because [they] are simply motivated by the biggest payday.”

The estate’s lawyer dismisses Patel’s as “yet another meritless lawsuit filed against the Jackson estate”.

In the meantime, plans have begun to pitch Jackson’s 2,700-acre California ranch Neverland to Chinese investors. It went on the market six months ago but has had no takers for the US$79 million price tag. Chinese investors spent $30 billion on American property in 2014 alone. They tend to pay twice what Americans do. In one instance, a former taxi driver turned billionaire Liu Yiqian acquired a Modigliani painting for $170 million, paying by credit card.