A day after the announcement that the Nederlander Organization has acquired rights to produce a musical version of Michael Jackson's Thriller comes legal uncertainty for fans looking forward to a Broadway-style version of the epochal 1983 Dawn of the Dead meets Soul Train music video.
Turns out that the 14-minute mini-film's director and co-writer John Landis -- the movie comedy maestro behind Animal House, The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London -- filed court papers last Wednesday suing Jackson's company, Optimum Productions, for breach of contract. (You can see them reprinted here courtesy of thewrap.com.)
At issue: Landis alleges that the King of Pop has been bilking him out of profits from Thriller and its accompanying “making of" documentary since 2005
