In honor of what would have been Michael Jackson's 60th birthday, his estate and IMAX theaters have announced that Thriller 3D is hitting theaters for the first time ever. The iconic short film is an important piece of Jackson's legacy and was remastered and converted to 3D last year under the supervision of director John Landis. Optimum Productions brought Landis in and together they supervised an elaborate and labor intensive process that began with the original 35mm film negative from Jackson's archives and resulted in a 3D conversion of the acclaimed short using the latest available technology.
While this is truly exciting news for Michael Jackson fans, there is a catch. Thriller 3D will only be in theaters for one week, beginning September 21st, 2018. The 3D screenings will play before Eli Roth's The House with a Clock in Its Walls, which will certainly help its box office numbers. Rumors of Thriller 3D have been circulating for years, but it was confirmed late last year when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival.
After Optimum Productions and John Landis were finished with Thriller 3D, the project was sent to IMAX to go through its proprietary digital re-mastering process (IMAX DMR), which optimizes the images and remixes the soundtrack for playback in IMAX theatres so fans can experience Michael Jackson's Thriller to the fullest. Greg Foster, CEO of IMAX Entertainment and Senior Executive Vice President, released a statement talking about his excitement in bringing Thriller 3D to the big screen. He had this to say.
"We're excited moviegoers will be able to see the iconic Michael Jackson's Thriller exclusively in larger-than-life IMAX, a truly special experience that audiences won't want to miss alongside Amblin's launch of Eli Roth's fantastical The House with a Clock in Its Walls."
John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of the Estate of Michael Jackson, state that fans are going to love the new Thriller 3D. Branca and McClain call the new version a "modern day technical enhancement," of the original. Nothing has been added to the film, it has only been cleaned up and given the 3D treatment. Hopefully, the team will reunite to remaster Captain EO as well, giving fans an awesome double feature of Jackson's big screen work.
In other Michael Jackson news, the singer's posthumous 2010 album, Michael, is currently in the spotlight. Three songs, "Breaking News," "Keep Your Head Up," and "Monster" are believed to be fake Jackson songs that were performed by an impersonator and fans are understandably pretty angry. However, the news of Thriller 3D finally hitting theaters should give fans something to celebrate on what would have been Jackson's 60th birthday. While we wait for the 3D IMAX extravaganza to hit theaters, you can check out the original Thriller short film below, thanks to the Michael Jackson YouTube channel.