Plan for 3-D 'Thriller' movie, Jackson TV show revealed in court

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Michael Jackson fans from left, Karlene Taylor, Yvonne Francis, Latrenda White and Jamie Lee, speak out against AEG Live. A jury found Wednesday that AEG Live was not liable in the death of the pop superstar. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Jury foreman Gregg Barden, center, listens to a reporter’s question about their verdict in the civil trial over the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Katherine Jackson and three grandchildren against AEG Live in the death of singer Michael Jackson. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos gathers the verdict documents moments before they were publicly disclosed. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Attorneys for Katherine Jackson, Deborah Chang, left and Kevin Boyle listen as jurors are polled following the verdict in the civil trial that lasted for five months. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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AEG attorney Marvin Putnam smiles during verdict polling at the conclusion of the Katherine Jackson v. AEG Live civil trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The jury found AEG not liable in Michael Jackson’s death. AEG attorney Jessica Stebbins Bina is at left. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, left, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, speaks with Kathryn Cahan and Marvin Putnam, attorneys with AEG Live LLC ,in Los Angeles County Superior Court in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death trial Thursday in downtown Los Angeles. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Bailiffs are sworn in to protect the jury as Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, waits during the trial in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday. The singer’s family has sued the entertainment firm AEG Live LLC, saying the company negligently hired and supervised Conrad Murray, the doctor who administered the dose of propofol that killed the singer. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, an attorney for the Michael Jackson family, delivers his closing argument to jurors in a packed courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 24. The promoters of Michael Jackson’s last tour were “so excited” about making huge profits that they hired an unfit doctor to care for the star, his family’s lawyer said. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Marvin Putnam, lead attorney for AEG Live LLC and co-counsel Jessica Stebbins-Bina, listen to closing arguments by Michael Jackson family’s attorney, Brian Panish, in a packed courtroom Sept. 24. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, delivers his closing argument to jurors in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death lawsuit against concert promoter AEG Live LLC on Sept. 24. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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AEG attorney Marvin Putnam gives closing arguments in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case on Sept. 25. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos listens to a rebuttal argument in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case on Sept. 26. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson’s former wife and mother of two of his children, leaves Los Angeles County Superior Court after testifying at the trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, against AEG Live. (Nick Ut / Associated Press)

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Television crews report live outside Los Angeles County Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles on the first day of the trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit. (Joe Klamar / AFP/Getty Images)

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In this file photo dated Sept. 27, 2011, Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson arrives outside Los Angeles County Superior Court to hear opening statement in the involuntary manslaughter trial of pop superstar Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. Murray was convicted and sentenced to prison. (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)

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Singer Janet Jackson, left, Paris Katherine Jackson, Prince Michael Jackson II and LaToya Jackson are seen on stage during the memorial service for Michael Jackson at Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

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Entertainer Michael Jackson announces on March 5, 2009, that he will play a series of comeback concerts at the London O2 Arena in July. Jackson died before the concerts could be held. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press)

By Jeff Gottlieb

July 16, 2013 11:28 AM PT

The promoters of Michael Jackson’s highly anticipated comeback concerts were interested in pursuing a 3-D version of a “Thriller” movie and a TV special of one of his sold-out concerts at the O2 arena in London, an accountant testified Tuesday.

Arthur L. Erk, a certified public accountant from New York who has previously worked with musical acts such as Britney Spears and Notorious B.I.G, testified that Jackson’s planned “This Is It” concerts stood to make well over $1 billion if he took his show on a global tour.

Erk said the fact that Jackson had sold out 50 shows at the London venue in just minutes was proof that the pop singer’s marketability remained unmatched.

“It never happened before, and it still hasn’t happened again,” said Erk, who calculated that Jackson stood to make as much as $1.5 million if he went on a worldwide tour, as the promoter -- AEG Live -- had hoped.

Erk said that if Jackson had ultimately pulled off a 260-date world tour, envisioned as spanning several years, he could have sold 12.9 million tickets.

The testimony marked the first time in the 2½-month wrongful death case that the attorney representing Jackson’s mother and children has tipped his hand on what type of money the family might be seeking from AEG. Jackson died while he was rehearsing in Los Angeles for the planned 2009 tour.

During cross-examination Monday, AEG attorney Sabrina Strong attacked Erk’s projections, pointing out that Jackson had a history of drug use, had never toured for as long as the CPA anticipated and had been sued in the past for backing out of concerts and other business deals.

Strong played a short portion of the deposition of Katherine Jackson, the singer’s mother, in which she said she was surprised when he announced the “This Is It” concert series.

“Because I know Michael didn’t want to do any more,” she said.

Katherine Jackson said her son joked that he didn’t want to moonwalk on stage when he was 50, his age when he died of an overdose of the anesthetic propofol.

Erk said he wasn’t aware of those problems but insisted there was plenty of evidence that Jackson would have gone through with the concerts and that AEG executives certainly thought so.

“He needed the work,” Erk said, referring to Jackson’s financial problems.

On Tuesday, Erk said that his work wrongful death case has cost $300,000.

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