TELEVISION
Michael Jackson's Estate & CBS Team for Animated Halloween Special
7/11/2017
by
Kate Stanhope
The special will feature the music of the late pop star, as well as the voices of Christine Baranski and Alan Cumming.
CBS is looking to the music of Michael Jackson for its next project.
The network has teamed with the estate of the late pop star for a new animated special for which his extensive discography will serve as the soundtrack, it was announced Tuesday.
Titled Michael Jackson's Halloween, the hour-long telecast will follow millennials Vincent (MacGyver star Lucas Till) and Victoria (The Flash film's Kiersey Clemons), who meet “accidentally” on Halloween night and find themselves, along with Ichabod the dog, at a mysterious hotel located at 777 Jackson Street called This Place Hotel. Once inside, Vincent and Victoria go an unexpected, magical adventure of personal discovery, culminating in a spectacular dance finale featuring an animated Jackson.
CBS has tapped a variety of network stars past and present for voice roles, including Christine Baranski, Alan Cumming, Jim Parsons, Lucy Liu, George Eads and Brad Garrett.
Optimum Productions created the special and will produce, with animation production by Hammerhead. John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of the Estate of Michael Jackson, will exec produce. Daniel Chuba will serve as producer and Mark A.Z. Dippé is attached to direct.
The special will air sometime this fall.
Since Jackson's death in 2009, his estate has continued to release new projects featuring the pop star, most notably the concert film This Is It, which was released shortly after his passing and showed his final days rehearsing for what was to be a new tour of the same name. More recent releases include Michael Jackson Live at Wembley July 16, 1988 in 2012 and a 25th anniversary special for his album, Bad, released the same year.
In recent years, Jackson's children have also stepped into the spotlight, with his daughter Paris making her acting debut on Fox's Star and appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone and his son, Prince Michael Jackson, serving as a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter
