Academy Award nominated director Spike Lee directs the music video for Michael Jackson’s final single ‘This Is It”.

The video incorporates the King of Pop’s childhood home in Gary, Indiana along with a number of his most memorable moments on stage in the video.

The documentary, ‘This Is It’, hits stores on January 26, 2010.

Michael Jackson – This Is It – Directed by Spike Lee from 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks on Vimeo.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It DVD was originally slated to be released prior to Christmas, but due to a regulation that usually forces studios to wait a minimum 90 days before releasing a new film to DVD, it has been pushed to a late January or early February DVD release, according to the  Los Angeles Times.

Because the film will only have a two-week theatrical run, Sony executives argued that a This Is It DVD should circumvent the agreement between theater owners and movie studios, but the theater chains relented.

The AP reports that Sony will submit the documentary for Academy Award consideration in categories ranging from film editing and sound to Best Picture and Best Director. Unfortunately, the most noteworthy category in which This Is It had the best chances of competing, the Best Documentary Oscar, already passed its deadline, making Jackson’s rehearsal footage film ineligible.

The film will also be ineligible for the Golden Globes, as it doesn’t recognize documentaries. Because this year’s Oscars will feature an expanded Best Picture field of 10 nominees, based on its rave reviews it’s plausible that This Is It could score an Oscar nod.

Source: Rolling Stone

Michael Jackson’s new single “This Is It” has began streaming online and hitting the collective airwaves, nearly four months after the “king of pop” died of a prescription drug overdose aged 50. The track, which features backing vocals by Jackson’s brothers, opens with a soft, soulful introduction and the lines: “This is it, here I stand/I’m the light of the world, I feel grand.”

It will be available to buy as part of the two-disc album “This Is It” which hits the shelves internationally on October 26 and in North America on October 27 to coincide with the global release of the Jackson movie of the same name on October 28.

Disc 1 will feature the original album masters of some of Jackson’s biggest hits arranged in the same sequence as they appear in the film. The disc ends with two versions of the never-released, “This Is It,” which is featured in the film’s closing sequence and includes backing vocals by Jackson’s brothers.

Disc 2 offers previously unreleased versions of some of the artist’s classic tracks. This disc also features a touching spoken word poem from Jackson titled “Planet Earth” that has never been heard before, Sony said.

The film offers Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer, his career, and the stage spectacular that would have been. The film will provide moviegoers with an unforgettable front row experience compiled from extensive footage that shows Jackson’s meticulous preparation for his 2009 London shows.

Check out the new track below and weigh in with your thoughts:

The trailer for the upcoming Michael Jackson concert rehearsal film ‘Michael Jackson: This Is It’ debuted during the MTV Video Music Awards on September 13th, 2009. Check out the trailer below.

The film offers Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer, his career, and the stage spectacular that would have been. The film will provide moviegoers with an unforgettable front row experience compiled from extensive footage that shows Jackson’s meticulous preparation for his 2009 London shows.