Michael Jackson Photos & Pics Archive

Chinese fans will get to see the last footage of Michael Jackson at the same time as the rest of us now that Chinese censors have approved This Is It in time for it's global release date of October 28th.

Sony Pictures execs told The AP that the film won one of the last slots that China awards to foreign releases, which is only 20 films annually.

Li Chow, Sony Pictures Releasing International’s general manager for China said that they intend on giving it as large a release as possible in the country, to account for Jackson's overwhelming fan base there.

“We’ll do as many prints as possible. It depends on the labs,” Li said.

As of last year, China had about 4,100 screens. It's likely that an enormous amount of those will be showing This Is It when the film's released later this month.

According to the Jacko autopsy report, Michael had tattooed eyeliner and lipliner on his face, as well as inked in his eyebrows and portions of his hairline.

The Daily Mail reports that although his body was found with scarring around the face and neck (most likely due to plastic surgery), and puncture marks on his arms, Michael was actually in fairly good health when he died of an accidental overdose.

His weight was within normal limits for his frame, and his heart was relatively strong.

In fact, the only health issues detected by the coroner was a chronic inflammation of the lungs (which wasn't life-threatening), as well as arthritis in the lower spine and fingers.

Bottom line is, Jackson wasn't the sickly man he sometimes appeared to be. If not for the fatal injection of propofol, he probably would have lived for quite a bit longer.

Courtesy AEG

Fans eager to get a glimpse of Jackson's last few months on film helped propel the doc to record-breaking numbers of pre-sales.

Variety reports that movie-goers camped out Sunday at LA Live, where the film will premiere on the new Regal Cinema screens on October 27th. Tix for all 3,000 seats sold out within the first two hours.

The movie also accounted for 80% of ALL online pre-sales, besting other highly anticipated films like New Moon and Avatar.

This Is It also smashed previous sales in the UK, Japan, France, Australia, Germany and New Zealand.

He continues to speak from the grave!

Michael Jackson sat down with close friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach over 8 years ago for an interview, and though the late King of Pop made some rather incendiary remarks, the Daily Mail reports that he knew the tapes would be released one day.

At one point during the interview, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's name came up. Though Jackson's intent probably wasn't to praise Hitler, he certainly had plenty to say about the murderous dictator. "Hitler was a genius orator. To make that many people turn and change and hate, he had to be a showman and he was." When asked if he had the ability to make Hitler change, Jackson said, "Absolutely. You have to help them, give them therapy, teach them that somewhere, something in their life went wrong."

He also told the rabbi he wanted to date Princess Diana, but he was too shy to ask her out. He said, "I thought she was very special - very feminine and classy. She was my type for sure and I don't like most girls. It takes a very special mould to make me happy and she was one of them."

So what about someone like Madonna? Michael told the rabbi he was convinced that Madonna was in love with him, but thought she was jealous of his success, saying, "I think she was in love with me and I was not in love with her. We had nothing in common. She is not sexy at all." Ouch! Good thing this didn't come out before Madonna's speech at the VMAs earlier this month!

The first new MJ song since the King of Pop's sudden death is about to be revealed...

Entertainment Tonight reports that "Is This It," the brand new song off the two-disc album also entitled Is This It, will be released October 12th.

John McClain, co-producer of the album, says of the single: "This song only defines, once again, what the world already knows - that Michael is one of God's greatest gifts."

Can't wait!

Michael Jackson blasts his own family in secret tapes recorded during an interview with the ghostwriter of his autobiography Moonwalk.

In the recordings, obtained by NOTW, Jackson calls his brothers lazy, Janet a tomboy who broke his heart when she got married to James Debarge in 1984, LaToya "Ms. Nice and Nasty," says his mother "disappointed" him and his father was an abusive "mystery man."

"The brothers didn't give me support," Michael says when talking about the Jackson 5. "We'd be working on a TV show or video and they'd be sitting around moaning and groaning but I'd be watching and learning. It takes a talent, but some people are lazy and don't want to develop anything."

As for his father, Jackson revealed how Joe would beat the boys during rehearsals if they made one wrong step. "He would sit in a chair with a belt or a switch and we'd do our performance. And if we messed up he hit you." Jackson reveals that although he was never hit that much while they were rehearsing, he got it worse than anyone outside of the business, for talking back to Joe.

He also reveals, that although his brothers found him to be the "wimpy" one, it was Michael who stood up to Motown chief, Berry Gordy. "They thought I was naive, soft and sweet and wimpy, but I wasn't. It was me who went to Berry Gordy and said, 'We're gonna leave'."

You can listen to the secret tapes, recorded at Neverland Ranch, HERE.

While the King of Pop looks a bit skeletal in this clip from This Is It, he's still got the voice and you can tell he had the moves somewhere in there! As much as we miss MJ, we're thankful we can still enjoy his music and rehearsal footage. But after watching the clip above, do you think Michael would have made it through all of his London concerts?

According to reports, Michael's not-so-secret lovechild, Omer Bhatti, will be starring in a new biopic about his dad's rise to fame in the 80s.

The Sun says that Bhatti, who has denied being Michael's bio son in the past, was handpicked by the family to portray the pop star during his Off The Wall and Thriller days, but before the molestation accusations of the 90s and 2000s.

A pal told the paper, "The family is close to Omer, as Michael was. He is a fantastic performer and they would like him to play the adult Michael."

Bhatti is currently living with Michael's three children at the Jackson family compound in Los Angeles.

Saturday was like a school trip for Michael Jackson's children!

We caught a glimpse of the kids visiting the George C. Page Museum at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits this weekend - the youngsters arrived with their cousins, surrounded by bodyguards, for a private tour of the science museum. Fossils galore!

Our X17 photographer on the scene tells us:

"The kids looks happy and normal -- just like all the other kids at the museum, except that they have bodyguards. Paris and Prince seemed excited by such a simple pleasure. It was good to see that they don't appear to be spoiled rich kids - they're just like everyone else."

Good work, Grandma Katherine!

Judge Mitchell Beckloff has ruled that Katherine Jackson will be allowed to challenge the special administrators of her son's estate without being disinherited.

Attorneys for Jackson had asked the judge to decide whether she could go up against attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain without invoking a clause that would cause her to lose her 40 percent share of her son's millions. Attorneys for Branca and McClain did not challenge Jackson’s petition for a ruling, and if her attorneys decide to formally challenge the authority of the estate administrators, Beckloff will schedule a hearing for the case.

While Jackson hasn't raised too much of a stink about the control over her son's finances, it will be interesting to see what route she decides to take with the administrators. She could argue that Branca and McClain are unfit to handle the late King of Pop's $500 million estate, or that he was under undue influence.

... But Joe Jackson was there to enjoy the spotlight :(

... And Janet was there to remind us why the Jackson family - especially Michael - is so special. She rocked the tribute to her brother with an angry, touching performance of Scream. Check it out if you missed it ...

A series of Post-it notes have been uncovered in Michael Jackson's bathroom by the News of the World... and some of them are a little peculiar!

One reads: "I am so grateful that I am a magnet for miracles." That's like a self-help mantra, right?

Another was "Love, no violence ever!" and "Remember a beautiful future promise of tomorrow."

Some notes were more of a general reminder - "Call Temperton," for instance. Rod Temperton is a songwriter/producer that co-penned "Thriller" for Jacko.

At least MJ was trying to motivate himself and stay positive!

The Michael Jackson Tribute Concert originally scheduled for September 26th in Vienna has been postponed until next summer.

Citing scheduling conflicts with many of the major talents who had reportedly signed on, Jackson's brother Jermaine broke the news that the family would have to scrap the plans for an elaborate concert outside of a Vienna castle, and would instead plan for a show to take place June of 2010 at London's O2 stadium, the very place Michael had been planning to debut his comeback tour.

On the tribute website, Jermaine wrote:

"I personally have spoken to many international artists and invited them to attend THE TRIBUTE and perform one of Michael’s songs. Several leading artists immediately agreed to participate in this unique tribute show. Many others told me personally that it would be a great honor to be part of this memorial concert for my late brother – an artist who influenced the music world like virtually no other. However, due to the short time frame involved it just was not possible for many of them to change their schedule so that they could be on stage in Vienna on September 26th.

We have therefore decided, after careful consideration, to reschedule THE TRIBUTE concert for my brother to June 2010 and to stage this very special music event in London. Here, over 70,000 fans will have the opportunity to experience the life and music of my beloved late brother. We will hold the concert in the city that he himself chose for his comeback concerts but, due to his tragic death, he was not able to do.

Instead of eight weeks we now have eight months to prepare and some of the stars who would not have been able to participate in the Vienna concert, but expressed their wish to participate in this event, will be able to perform live on stage in London in June 2010."

Michael Jackson fans will get their first look at the trailer for This Is It at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday.

The documentary was put together from over 100 hours of behind-the-scenes footage, and it chronicles the last three months of the pop icon's life as he rehearsed for 50 sold-out comeback concerts at London's O2 arena. Sony Pictures plans to release the film in theaters for a limited two-week engagement, starting on October 28.

Chris Brown will be joining Mary J. Blige, Natalie Cole, Sister Sledge, Akon, Angela Bassett and MJ's own band and dancers for another tribute concert slated for Sept. 26th in Vienna, says Michael's brother Jermaine.

The show, which will feature performers from around the world covering Jackson's hits like "Bad," "Billie Jean" and "Thriller," will take place at a 17th-century palace in the Austrian city.

And although she hasn't yet been confirmed, organizers are hoping that Madonna may even make an appearance onstage to honor her late friend.

Although with what appears to be a bum ankle left over from her Sticky & Sweet tour that just wrapped, I guess we won't expect to see her moonwalk!

Here's the situation...

Randy Jackson has criticized the media in a statement, arguing that his family has asked the press to give them "one moment of privacy to mourn as a family out of the public spotlight." But instead, he claims a helicopter with a camera "severely disrupted" the funeral.

"I was dismayed at the coverage I saw on television of our ceremony for Michael," says Randy.

Hmm, but didn't they invite the camera in? The live feed was from a cam inside the room!

Christian Audigier will be moving into former friend Michael Jackson's rented Holmby Hills home when MJ's lease is up in December.

The mansion is owned by Guess and Ed Hardy CEO Hubert Guez, and despite rumors to the contrary, Audigier says he has no plans to turn the King of Pop's last residence into a public space.