[Columbia Pictures; 2009]
Dir. Kenny Ortega

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Sony Music have revealed plans to launch a new Michael Jackson LP and single in conjunction with upcoming film This Is It. Former CEO Tony Mottola also claimed the company would be releasing fresh Jackson material for ‘years to come’, according to TIME magazine.

The movie, album and single all share the same title, with the latter expected to be made available from October 12th. The LP is a two disc compilation, containing ‘previously unreleased’ versions of some of Jackson’s biggest hits, as well as tracks from the film’s soundtrack, and will hit stores on October 26th. It also includes a spoken word poem called Planet Earth.

This Is It, the new Michael Jackson film, is to premiere simultaneously in over fifteen cities across the globe, including Berlin and the singer’s home city Los Angeles. To hold seperate premieres in different locations is common place, but to do so at the same time is almost unprecedented.

The Los Angeles screening will take place on the evening of the 27th October, while due to time differences, the London premiere will begin at past midnight local time.

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The film is called This Is It and will be released in movie theaters world wide on October 28th. The film documents the rehearsals and preparation for Jackson’s 50 date O2 Arena tour. This includes his final rehearsal at the Staples Center the night before his tragic death. The film looks to document the last months of the king of pops life – as he put all he had left into to trying to make his big comeback a success. It is said that the film makers have over 100 hours of raw footage to work with. Including dance rehearsals where Jackson himself watched and picked his backup dancers.

Sony Pictures will be releasing the film and have announced that certain sections of the film will be in 3D and high definition with digital surround sound.

Michael Jackson’s last performance took place on June 25th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles – the night before his death. According to AEG, the entire re-rehearsal was filmed with HD Cameras, as was the audio. Nothing has been officially confirmed, but there are talks that AEG is planning on releasing a DVD + CD of the King of Pops final performance later this year. The rehearsal was being filmed for promotional use (commercials + ads) to promote his upcoming 50+ show tour that was to take place at the O2 Arena in London. According to those that attended the rehearsal, Jackson was able to sing and perform all the songs, even up-staging the younger dancers.

Photos taken from the rehearsal have surfaced online, showing an energetic/seemingly happy Michael Jackson.

At 5.20 PM today, the celebrity gossip website TMZ.com reported that Michael Jackson had suffered a major cardiac arrest this afternoon in his LA-area home. Reports indicate that Jackson had stopped breathing by the time paramedics arrived.

Jackson was set to embark upon an ambitious world tour. No word yet on how (or if) those who had already purchased the rather expensive tickets will be reimbursed.

This is all (somewhat) breaking news, and we’ll try to keep you updated on any major new developments.

For the time being, suffice to say R.I.P. to one of the most important, successful, influential and controversial figures in pop music history.

EDIT: The LA Times has confirmed that Jackson is indeed dead.

Michael Jackson will take a “final curtain call” with 10 shows at London’s O2 Arena beginning on July 8th, CNN reports. The self-proclaimed King of Pop announced the run, titled “This is It,” at a press conference outside the venue on Thursday. Barring a few awards-show appearances, these gigs will mark Jackson’s first major live shows in 12 years. They will also reportedly be his last. The singer has largely kept to himself since being acquitted on child molestation charges in 2005, and has not released a new studio album since 2001′s commercially and critically disappointing Invincible.

Tickets for the shows, which are priced from $75 to $100 (£50-£75), go on sale on March 13th via MichaelJacksonLive.com.

-Sean Highkin