Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ to Be Released in IMAX for First Time

Today would have been the King of Pop Michael Jackson‘s 60th birthday, but it’s the late singer’s fans who are getting a gift — Jackson’s groundbreaking music video Thriller is coming to IMAX for the first time.

Announced earlier today (via Associated Press), the singer’s estate and IMAX are partnering to digitally remaster Michael Jackson’s Thriller 3D in IMAX 3D for the first time. The special presentation of the video will run for one week only beginning on Sept. 21st ahead of showings of The House With a Clock in Its Walls in domestic IMAX theaters.

Originally released in 1983, Thriller was a completely unique music video at the time. With a 14-minute runtime and director John Landis — who had recently directed the feature-length horror film An American Werewolf in London —Thriller was more a short film than a traditional music video. It was even paired with screenings of Disney’s Fantasia in order to qualify for a short subject film Academy Award, though it ultimately was not nominated. The 3D version of Thriller was first shown at the 74th Venice Film Festival in 2017.

As for the IMAX presentation, according to the press release, Landis was brought in to supervise the conversion of Thriller from original 35mm film negative to 3D, ensuring that the film “was not reedited or recut in any way.” The audio for the film, including music and sound effects, were also adapted for higher quality.

The final video from Jackson’s 1982 album of the same name, Thriller has had a lasting cultural impact. In 2009, it was inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, the first music video to receive such an honor. It is often considered the most famous music video of all time and some consider it to be the most influential music video of all time. It’s also been credited with helping break down racial barriers, as the video was played in heavy rotation on MTV, which was had a reputation at that time for playing videos from mostly white performers.

Jackson died in June 2009.

Will be you be checking out Michael Jackson’s Thriller 3D when it hits IMAX theaters next month? Let us know in the comments below.