Michael Jackson rehearsal footage sold for $60m

After a tense bidding war involving numbers that would make most of us blanch, Sony Entertainment has now won the battle, dropping a cool $60-million for all the footage from Michael Jackson’s numerous rehearsals and run-throughs for his ‘O2′ concert tour.

But as part of the deal with organizers, AEG, the tribute concerts planned for London next month are now canceled. And this has upset a great many people.

“The directors, dancers, cast and crew all extended their stays in LA after Michael’s death, worked on his memorial and the tribute shows — all because we were repeatedly told it would happen,” says one highly-placed – and very peeved – member of the “This is It” team. “Then we get a phone call on Thursday, saying it was all off, and that all work after June 26 was now considered volunteer work.”

Having basically ‘inherited’ the star when they bought CBS Records for $2-billion in 1988, Sony made sure he repaid their investment with an exclusive contract worth $1-billion — the most lucrative deal ever signed by one artist. And they might need that kind of money to make this calm down: Not only have dozens of people now been told they were working for free, but rehearsal expenses are still causing pain.

“Many of us paid out of our own pockets,” one upset source told The Scoop. “We did this with the assurance from Michael that we’d be paid, and collectively we’re out millions. And we don’t even know where to get the money back; His estate? Sony? It’s a nightmare!”

The studio now plans to release the recordings as a theatrical movie sometime in October. Maybe then they can settle some bills?