John Landis’ lawsuit against Michael Jackson

John Landis, the British filmmaker and his company, Levitsky Productions, filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court last Wednesday. In it, the company behind the productions Optimum and Michael Jackson is accused of failing to pay four years of royalties for the 1983 short film Thriller. Landis, the director of this legendary video, stated that 50% of the net profits from the thriller video, as well as the behind-the-scenes film of the video, belong to him. He also claims that Michael Jackson had previously breached the contract by failing to pay him 50% of the income from these films. The amount Landis estimated as his claim was not specifically stated in the lawsuit. However, news websites reported the amount of the debt to be around $1 million. Landis’ defense attorney said that suing Michael was their last resort, and Landis tried to avoid it as much as possible. Source: eMJey / E! Online / AP