It's a titanic struggle: the immense fascination with everything associated with the star against the enormous debts left behind festering in his estate.

It's of little surprise then that those managing Jackson's affairs are producing ever more merchandise to win the battle.

In particular, a movie is being created for those who had hoped to see his This Is It concerts at the O2. The event never happened of course, but there are over 100 hours of high definition footage from the rehearsals to make a feature length movie with.

A $60 million dollar deal with Columbia Pictures has been signed, so fans will see some kind of version of the event which was intended to clear debts in the first place.

Further dents in the $400 million worth of debt will be made by an associated soundtrack, director's-cut DVD and special editions.

There is also an MJ Exhibition tour planned filled with memorabilia and accompanied by merchandise on sale.

Jerryll Cohen, a lawyer working on behalf of the estate has also signed a deal including making the version of Smile sung by Jermaine Jackson at the funeral downloadable on iTunes.

Smile, originally written by Charlie Chaplin, and later other greats including Nat King Cole, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson himself, was a particular favourite of the star.

There is also a comprehensive merchandising deal with Bravado highlights plans to produce every kind of Jackson-related memorabilia you can think of, and some most people could not. Clothing, photo books, recordings on USB drives, wallpaper and mobile phone screensavers were all predictable.

Virtual clothing, accessories and even tattoos for Virtual Reality games/worlds such as Second Life were less so. Trading cards and themed wine decanters will also be available.

Of the merchandise which is tangible, collectors should be aware that it will be memorabilia from before Jackson died that they can be confident will be valuable in a decade's time, especially his autograph.

 

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