John Landis: Still a Thriller

Waiting on the worldwide release of Thriller 3D, Landis takes us back to the best – and then bonkers – of the King of Pop, as well as his Beatle moments and his love of B.B. King.

Let’s get right to it: what’s the story on the future distribution of Thriller 3D? It had three special screenings in 2017, and then appeared in IMAX 3D for one week in 2018 accompanying another movie.

Like everything else – COVID-19! I am thrilled with the restoration, the 3D and the new Atmos mix, and I’ve no idea what will happen with it now. It’s gorgeous, all the copies of Thriller are dupes. The versions online are not good quality, and for filmmakers like me, that’s heartbreaking.

Going back to the beginning, why did you agree to the initial idea to direct Thriller when it seemed to be very similar to something you’d already done, that being An American Werewolf in London?

There was no initial idea. Michael called me and just asked if he could turn into a monster. He was very enamored of Rick Baker’s work in Werewolf, fascinated by the metamorphosis, and that’s what he wanted. He wanted to turn into a monster. I didn’t really want to do a rock video, one of those needle drop things, because they are only commercials to sell records, which didn’t really interest me. I realized with Mike being such a big star, at that moment, I said, would he be interested in doing a theatrical short? My plan was basically to take advantage of his celebrity and try to bring back the theatrical short. That’s why it’s a two-reeler. That’s why it’s fourteen minutes, like a Three Stooges short. And it played theatrically.