In case you haven’t heard already, the deceased superstar Michael Jackson is to be buried on what would have been his 51st birthday, August 29th. He will be buried at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale. An official statement from the family said the burial would be private for family and close riends only, however there would be accommodations for media nearby. Even Michael’s private burial is still a media event.
While Michael is dead and gone, his legend still lives on with numerous tributes and memorials still planned. It was announced today that a two week limited run of “Michael Jackson: This Is It” would be available for viewing at theaters worldwide starting October 28th. This will feature rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage of Michael’s “This Is It” tour for which he was rehearsing at the time of his death. The documentary will be made from some 100 hours of footage for which Sony paid $60 million for the rights. It will be directed by Kenny Ortega and tickets go on sale September 27th.
If you don’t feel like heading out to the theater, you can stay home and eventually, a Michael Jackson tribute will come to you on the small screen. A&E will soon be announcing an airdate for its Jackson documentary. The program will feature brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon. While Michael wasn’t filmed for the documentary, you can bet he will be a big part of it.
And finally, fans are clamoring to get tickets to a tribute next month in Vienna. The show, which will be on September 26th, has 85,000 passes available. Within two weeks, Jermaine Jackson is expected to name the performers who will be appearing at show which will be held at the 17th century palace. The family chose to hold the tribute there because Michael loved castles.
Tickets start at $85, but can cost as much as $712. The Tribute 2009 web site crash about a half an hour before the tickets were to go on sale when an estimated one million people tried to access it.