In the wake of Michael Jackson‘s untimely and surprising death, producers of his massive This Is It Tour (which was scheduled to begin on July 13, 2009 at the O2 Arena in London, England and go on for 50 dates well into 2010) have been left with hours and hour of rehearsal footage that was meant to be eventually released on DVD after the tour was completed. Today we are learning just how much footage exists and what the new plan is for all of that valuable video. It turns out that AEG Live has about 1,200 hours of rehearsal footage and a movie studio bidding war has gotten underway for the rights to own that footage in order to release a concert video in theaters as early as October and a TV special … as early as September! Here are some of the deets of all the Hollywood action going on behind the scenes concerning all of this MJ video footage:

Over the weekend, Sony Pictures emerged as the front-runner in a frenzied bidding war to acquire Hollywood’s hottest entertainment property: the film rights to footage from Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for his “This Is It” comeback concert series. According to sources close to the negotiations — who declined to be identified because they are not authorized to publicly discuss the matter — AEG Live, the concert promoter behind the superstar’s planned 50-date performance residency at London’s O2 Arena, offered the rights to some 1,200 hours of rehearsal footage to all the major movie studios last week. Sony, Fox, Paramount and Universal all submitted bids. Although Fox and Universal still have bids under consideration, Sony’s aggressive $50-million offer — coupled with the fact that the global entertainment giant’s music division controls distribution of Jackson’s output as an adult solo performer and retains the right to block a competing studio from using his songs — put the studio in the strongest position, a source said Sunday. Sony also controls the so-called sync rights to most of Jackson’s songs, involved whenever recorded music is used in combination with visual images in a production, an important component in the property’s future DVD release. The plan is for the movie to be theatrically released in October. AEG is also selling the broadcast rights for a prime-time television special based around staging and choreography that Jackson personally created for his “This Is It” concerts. That property prompted fevered competition among television networks over the weekend. According to a person with knowledge of the deal, the special would be broadcast in September and it would be directed by Kenny Ortega, the choreographer-director responsible for such hits as “Dirty Dancing” and “High School Musical” who worked closely with Jackson as director of his “This Is It” performances. It is described as featuring an ensemble of superstars that might include Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake and Will.I.Am performing Jackson’s hits using the costuming, choreography, aerial ballet and special effects-driven illusions that had been engineered for the singer’s comeback, a source said. Although it’s been reported that NBC is the front-runner in bidding for the TV special, the network declined comment and denied rumors of a deal. However, sources close to NBC say it is in negotiations to air the special. An announcement about both the television and film projects is expected Monday, a person with knowledge of the deal said. Calls to an AEG spokesman were not returned. A Sony spokesman and a Universal spokeswoman declined to comment. Representatives for Fox did not respond to inquiries seeking comment Sunday.

Because no one outside of these negotiations has seen much of the footage it’s not entirely clear what the quality of all of this footage is … but sources claim much of the footage was shot in HD video and that some portions of the show were filmed in 3D (which was to be a suprise part of the show itself). At this stage, no director has been mentioned as a possible helmsman for the project but it is said that MJ‘s estate will get the “lion’s share” of the profits to come from these specials. Again, hearing about all of this footage we are left with thoughts of what could’ve been. But if this report is to be believed, it won’t be long before we’re able to see a lot more of this footage when it gets released on TV and in movie theaters.

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