Two days ago, Michael Jackson’s doctor was convicted guilty of manslaughter. At most, he’ll serve four years in prison. At the least, he might get house arrest for a year. But at any rate, he’ll get rich anyway.
Shortly after Conrad Murray was charged with manslaughter in 2009, October Films followed Dr. Murray for two years documenting his moves, thoughts, personal stories of Michael Jackson, and events at the trial. The story was sold to Zodiak Rights for distributing rights.
It’s unclear just how much he made when he sold his story to Zodiak Rights. One source stated that Zodiak was aiming for 1 million. Another says no network pays more than $250k for distribution. Another said it would vary depending on the verdict.
In addition to selling the story, Dr. Murray may receive royalties for each distribution to a tv network. NBC purchased the rights and will be showing the movie this friday. Supposedly, Zodiak has claimed to have sold the movie to 10 other stations. Zodiak is also the exclusive holder of the only interview Dr. Murray has conducted. That’s being sold around the block too.
Finally, when do you think we’ll be seeing a book from Dr. Murray? There’s already an Un-Authorized Biography about the celebrity doctor selling on Amazon. It’s only a matter of time before he uses that outlet as well. In the CraigsList Killer saga, a book was pushed out 5 months after Philip Markoff was arrested for murder. Most of the time, it’s hard to get a literary agent to pick up your book, but I’m sure Conrad Murray will have no problems.
With this documentary and a potential book or two, Conrad Murray could stand to profit. Although, some believe it may only be enough to pay his lawyers as well as his already enormous debts from past lawsuits, student loans, and child support.
Just as well, because most likely, this doctor’s clinical career is ruined. I doubt he’ll ever be able to recover back into clinical medicine. His license is currently suspended. And the Jackson’s have filed a civil suit against Dr. Murray for wrongful death. If he gets convicted there, it may be ample evidence for the medical board to revoke his license. Even if it doesn’t get revoked, it will be very hard to rebuild patient trust again. Thoughts of “Aren’t you the doctor that killed Michael Jackson?” come to mind.
The celebrity doctor’s documentary entitled “Michael Jackson and The Doctor: A Fatal Friendship” is set to air friday night on MSNBC. Are you going to watch it?
