After a multimillion dollar deal was stuck between AEG Live and Columbia Pictures, it is extremely likely a Michael Jackson film documenting his final rehearsals is imminent. Court documents filed in Los Angeles revealed that the film studio paid $60 million (£35 million) for the rights to the footage. However no movie can be made until Columbia Pictures receives the approval of a judge, the hearing of which is due to take place today.

Almost 100 hours of footage was taken of Jackson as he prepared for his final This Is It Tour, scheduled for London’s O2 Arena this summer. Short clips have already be aired on TV and show a healthy looking Jackson singing his hit song They Don’t Really Care About Us and performing an energetic dance routine. This particular piece of footage was taken only days before his untimely death on June 24th.

There are stringent conditions attached to any proposed film of Jackson. Firstly, the movie cannot paint Jackson in an unfavourable light, it must comply with PG guidelines and run no longer than 150 minutes. Those set to profit from the film include AEG Live and the Jackson estate, the latter of which will receive 90% of the profits, with the remainder being shared out between the promoters.

It appears there’ll be no delay in getting the movie released as Jackson representatives are scheduled to view a screening of the final product no later than October 2nd, which indicates a possible Christmas release date.