A Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge has given approval to Sony Pictures Entertainment to produce a new movie from rehearsal clipping made immediately prior to the entertainers death.

Sitting in Probate Court, Judge Mitchell Beckloff authorized the movie to proceed after Sony and Sony Music Entertainment, the Michael Jackson Estate and AEG Live, producer of the late singer’s planned London comeback series, reached an agreement late last month.

The new movie, to be called This Is It, will be produced from more than 80 hours of rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage recorded in the weeks Jackson spent preparing for the London series.

According to court documents Sony has agreed to pay AEG at least $60 million for the movie rights, but will deduct the cost of editing the footage from the final amount it pays.

Kenny Ortega, director of High School Musical, who was directing the concert series, is in negotiations with Sony to produce and direct the movie, scheduled to be released on October 30.

According to Ortega, “the world will see what our team was so fortunate to experience, which was the full commitment, passion and creativity that Michael put into the project”.

Along with the rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage, Sony obtained the rights to include some 3-D sequences that were going to be shown on video screens during the This Is It concerts.

The movie will also feature a career retrospective and interviews with friends and collaborators.

It has been reported that AEG also tried to sell the rights to a television special for $20 million but wasn’t able to reach a deal with any network.