Ghoulish Good News: Michael Jackson’s Electrifying “Thriller” Being Adapted for the Big Screen… Plus, “Thriller” Trivia & Full Video of Original for Halloween
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on October 29, 2010
Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' is being turned into a big-screen movie
No debate here: The best-selling album of all time and the best music video of all time, especially for Halloween, is the late Michael Jackson’s brilliant, groundbreaking “Thriller.”
And the music video, originally written and directed by the legendary John Landis, is on its way to be turned into a film for the big screen.
How cool is that?
From CMR, Michael Jackson Thriller Video To Be Reborn as Big Screen Movie:
Michael Jackson’s epic Thriller video is quietly being worked into a full-length, big-screen movie. According to Deadline, Kenny Ortega will be directing (he directed This Is It), and Jeremy Garelick is writing. Garelick is the controversial, un-credited genius that made the script for Hangover the hit film that it was…it’s good to see him working on an epic project for which he will get full credit. Rod Temperton, who wrote Thriller, is also in the staff for this movie. Vincent Price is also to be featured in the movie, but not sure exactly how. Price recited the Thriller lyrics in the middle part of the video. The plot of this movie is being closely guarded, although that could be because it’s so young as yet it has no plot. Budget for this film is rumored to be under $50 million; when you consider that This Is It grossed over $261 million on a budget of $60 million, that’s a pretty low figure.
Michael Jackson, “Thriller” music video (full-length)
From Times of India, MJ’s ‘Thriller’ to be adapted in movie:
Late pop legend Michael Jackson’s seminal music video for his 1982 hit song ‘Thriller’ is set to get some Hollywood treatment.
Filmmaker Kenny Ortega, who’s previous credits have included directing ‘High School Musical’ as well as being the man who oversaw preparations for Jackson’s doomed ‘This Is It’ tour, is due to get behind the camera for the new film version of the all time hit, reports deadline .
The original 14-minute video, which saw Jackson leading a group of zombies through a now infamous dance routine, was originally shot by director John Landis and is often considered to be the greatest pop music video of all time.
It has been speculated that the forthcoming film could focus on the character played by Vincent Price in the video. Price provided the video’s narrative voice as well as the rap section. ‘The Hangover’ writer Jeremy Garelick is writing the movie’s screenplay, and Rod Temperton, the man who wrote the song, is also involved.
Brief “Thriller” bio background on John Landis:
In 1983 Landis wrote and directed the groundbreaking music video of Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983) (TV), created originally to play as a theatrical short. “Thriller” forever changed MTV and the concept of music videos, garnering multiple accolades including the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Overall Video, Viewer’s Choice, and the Video Vanguard Award – The Greatest Video in the History of the World. In 1991 “Thriller” was inducted into the MVPA’s Hall of Fame.
Some “Thriller” trivia from LA Times and IMDB.com:
The music video of “Thriller” played in a Westwood theater for one week in 1983 to qualify for an Oscar nomination. It opened for Disney’s “Fantasia,” much to the dismay of unsuspecting parents.
In 1984, the National Coalition on Television Violence classified more than half of 200 MTV videos surveyed as too violent, including the videos for Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Say, Say, Say.” Dr. Thomas Radecki, chairman of the coalition, was quoted as saying, “It’s not hard to imagine young viewers after seeing ‘Thriller’ saying, ‘Gee, if Michael Jackson can terrorize his girlfriend, why can’t I do it too?’ ”
Jackson’s girlfriend in the video, Ola Ray, was Playboy magazine’s Miss June in 1980, telling the publication that her favorite entertainers were “Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Ben Vereen, Emry Thomas.” She also listed her turn-ons as “music, men, dancing and romancing, health and nature” and turnoffs as “waiting for something that never comes.”
When Michael Jackson was informed that his co-star Ola Ray had posed nude for Playboy (June 1980), Jackson confessed that he’d never heard of the magazine.
During the scene in the graveyard as the zombies begin to rise, the zombie seen exiting the mausoleum is none other than special effects make up artist, Rick Baker himself.
The video that popularized Jackson’s “Moonwalk,” 1983′s “Billie Jean,” was directed by Steve Barron, but it may not be the clip he’s best known for. That would be the live-action comic book treatment he gave to A-ha’s “Take on Me.”
Before agreeing to direct, one of the conditions John Landis insisted on, was that the extras spend two weeks in dancing rehearsals with their choreographer, a music video requirement which was unprecedented for its time.
During the “Thriller” era, Jackson’s plastic surgery became noticeable. His face changed from the time the photo was taken for the album cover to the filming of the “Thriller” video.
On the outside of the theater, there is a poster of Vincent Price’s House of Wax (1953). As well, the theater marquee reads “Vincent Price’s Thriller”. He is the one who performs the spoken part of the song and utters the famous final laughter.
The man who wrote the song “Thriller,” Rod Temperton, also wrote songs for Boyz II Men, Herbie Hancock, Karen Carpenter and Michael McDonald.
An absolute rarity for a music video, Thriller (1983) was actually a union shoot with a then-astronomical budget of $500,000, when the average video at the time cost around $100,000 to produce.
The “Thriller” album has sold more than 104 million copies.
At the height of the song’s popularity, MTV would run the 14-minute “Thriller” video twice an hour.
Transcript of veteran horror actor Vincent Price’s “Thriller” dialogue:
Darkness falls across the land / The midnight hour is close at hand / Creatures crawl in search of blood / To terrorize y’all’s neighborhood / And whosoever shall be found / Without the soul for getting down / Must stand and face the hounds of hell / And rot inside a corpse’s shell. / The foulest stench is in the air / The funk of 40,000 years / And grizzly ghouls from every tomb / Are closing in to seal your doom / And though you fight to stay alive / Your body starts to shiver / For no mere mortal can resist / The evil of the thriller.
“Thriller” Interview: Rod Temperton on How Vincent Price Was Cast
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Man I can remember what a big deal it was the first time Thriller was shown on MTV. What a cool video. Let’s see, that would have been my freshman year in high school…