Jackson Earns $72 Million after Death; No News of Trial

The Hollywood Reporter announced today that performer Michael Jackson has earned $90 million this year, making him the third highest-paid dead celebrity of the last twelve months. Most of that money ($72 million) was generated after Jackson's death five months ago.

Reporter Paul Bond notes:

Even before the "This Is It" opening, Michael Jackson had earned $90 million in the past year, with most of it coming since his death five months ago.

That sizable sum put him third on the Forbes list of dead celebrities making the most money.

Jackson earned less than the $350 million that fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent scored in the past year, and the $235 million earned by the songwriting duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.

Forbes counted money earned from October 2008--October 2009, even for Jackson, who died June 25. But about $72 million -- or 80% of the $90 million earned in the past 12 months -- came after Jackson's death, said a spokesperson for GreenLight, a consultancy company that represents "delebs," their term for dead celebrities still earning money.

On Wednesday, Jackson -- along with AEG Entertainment and Sony -- began raking in money for next year's list as the concert-rehearsal documentary "This Is It" opened in 3,500 domestic theaters and around the world.

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The documentary This Is It has been garnering praise from fans and critics, with some music insiders suggesting that it might win an Oscar for Best Picture. (See photo from last rehearsals for show, above.)

Director Kenny Ortega is among those pushing for the Jackson film to receive an Oscar nomination, reports the AP.

"He deserves one," said Ortega. "Come on, people."

Meanwhile, news about the pending trial over Jackson's homicide has been pushed to the back burner. It was last reported that trial information would be released in mid-October. Dr. Murray Conrad may be charged with homicide.

Is it a coincidence that the criminal case has been delayed just in time for the new movie to come out?

Talking and Improvising: "Juno"

We've been watching and talking about the film Juno (2007), a Canadian-American comedy-drama about a 16-year-old girl who becomes pregnant after having sex one time with her best friend.

The film won an Academy Award for best original screenplay and stars Ellen Page as the title character, Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman.

As Wikipedia notes, the film Juno received "numerous positive reviews from critics, many of whom placed the film on their top ten lists for the year. The film has also received both criticism and praise from members of both the pro-life and pro-choice communities regarding its treatment of abortion."

Our class discussions have focused on teen pregnancy, adoption, abortion and Juno's relationship with Bleeker, the father of her child. We are also learning a lot of new vocabularly, including unusual teenager slang.

We finished watching the film together on Tuesday, and for Thursday, we are each writing a 100-word email that Juno might have written to Vanessa.

In Thursday's class we will be acting out a few scenes using the original script used in production.

We also we do some acting improvisations based on the scenes. Come to class prepared to play and to earn participation points.

Juno Links:

Official Juno movie website

Fans' favorite quotes from the movie