Michael Jackson's Neverland Foreclosed; Auction Date Set | 'Indy 4' Cannes Debut | Javier Bardem Channels Jagger | Hamm Wry; Billy Joel Tinkles | Elton John Raises Dough, We Think
Michael Jackson's Neverland Foreclosed; Auction Date Set
Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch is set be sold at auction on March 19.
Jackson received word Monday from Financial Title Company, the trustee, that unless he pays off $24,525,906.61 by that date, a public auction will go forward in Santa Barbara, Calif., in front of the county courthouse.
It's not just the house either. When Neverland is auctioned, it will include everything: all personal property inside, all fixtures and appliances, furniture, and "all merry go round type devices," any rides, games. The auction literally includes every single thing that is or isn't nailed down.
Click here to read the notice of sale.
At this point, Jackson may just let the auction proceed. He hasn't been at Neverland since June 30, 2005, when he departed for Bahrain. No one lives there, the animals in the zoo are all gone, the rides are either sold or shut down.
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Financially, Jackson remains in no position to cure his dilemma. Even though he refinanced his $300 million loan from Fortress Investments with help from Sony Music, HSBC and Barclays Bank, the Neverland loan was not part of that deal. Fortress would clearly like to get out of the Jackson business altogether now, so selling at auction is their answer.
What if no one comes up with a decent bid? Fortress will likely take possession and list the property with a Santa Barbara real estate broker. Neverland could be marketed as a corporate retreat. Or perhaps a very wealthy new owner will show up and make a fire sale pitch.
But an era is about to end forever: Jackson, who brought this on himself, is about to lose one of his two biggest assets. All that will remain after that will be his song publishing interests, and they are leveraged into the next millennium.
More to come...
'Indy 4' Cannes Debut
Steven Spielberg may not be popular in Beijing right now, but in France he's just aces.
Spielberg's reps and the folks at the Cannes
Film Festival are in negotiations to bring Paramount's highly anticipated "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" to Cannes for its official worldwide premiere in May, several sources tell me.
The premiere would precede the scheduled opening for what we also call "Indy 4" on May 22. The star-studded event easily would be the centerpiece of the festival, akin to the premiere last year of "Ocean's Thirteen."
I'm told that Spielberg, perhaps producer
George Lucas and stars
Harrison Ford,
Cate Blanchett,
Shia LeBeouf,
Karen Allen and others would make the walk up the fabled red carpet at the Palais. Talk about sizzle! Sacre bleu!
If "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" can open at Cannes on the Tuesday or Wednesday of the festival's second week, it might also provide some hold-over star power for the annual AmFAR Cinema in Cannes gala hosted by
Sharon Stone up at Le Moulin de Mougins.
So get ready for a publicity and marketing coup to send "Kingdom" into the box office stratosphere.
Javier Bardem Channels Jagger
I cant remember ever seeing an Oscar-winner have so much fun: newly minted Best Supporting Actor winner
Javier Bardem danced like there was no tomorrow Sunday night, in a champagne-driven frenzy to the
Rolling Stones Sympathy for the Devil during a triumphant moment at Miramaxs crowded after-party at Bar Marmont.
In a space of less than 5 feet diameter, in a tightly crowded bar, Bardem literally became
Mick Jagger, using his Oscar as a fake microphone while the DJ nestled nearby in a corner spun rock record after record. It helped that Bardem was on a slightly elevated platform, that
Penelope Cruz,
Josh Brolin and
Diane Lane were all on hand and that bottles of champagne had been opened and were flowing.
Its the
Coens! he yelled to me between congratulatory yelps. His thick head of dark hair was full of sweat. I imagine hell have a big headache today. But it doesnt matter. For Bardem, whos worked very hard the last few years, winning this prize was a sweet victory. And though everyone loves 83-year-old
Hal Holbrook, its hard to imagine that he would have welcomed his Oscar in a similar way.
Youre thinking: this sounds like a decadent moment. But observe that Bardems patient little mother, whod been his guest at the Oscar ceremony, was tucked into a seat just beyond him, grinning from ear to ear if also wanting to put in earplugs.
Nothing untoward happened. Just ebullience and a lot of fun as the crowd in the darkened tavern shouted out the refrain: Pleased to meetcha, dont forget my name! while Javier with a lot of encouragement, clapping and screaming channeled vintage Mick Jagger with just a hint of the late
John Belushi.
Bardems happiness, by the way, was infectious. The producers of documentary winner Taxi to the Dark Side whooped it up as a result, dancing just below his platform, swinging their gold statues around and over their heads.
lol:
