The price that Sony Pictures will ultimately pay for the Michael Jackson movie?

Originally it was $60 million. But since the Jackson estate has backed off the idea of a televised memorial from London on August 29th, Sony is going to end up paying a higher price.’This may be because with NBC Universal willing at one point to pay $10 million for the TV project, Sony needs to keep that off the air to protect its movie’s market share.

The new price is said to be $75 million. And that’s not final yet. I’m told it could still go a little higher.

Sony declined comment.

“This Is It,” as the film is tentatively called, is still scheduled for an Oct. 30th release. The August 29th shows are dead, however. What may still be on is some kind of tribute Joseph Jackson wants to organize for the same date. He has no venue or production and is relying on’ex-con Leonard Rowe to produce it, so I’d wait on getting out my credit card just yet.

The movie, however, is turning into an event. “Everyone will go see it so they can make up their own minds,” says a source. “Was he sick? How did he look? Did he know this really was ‘it’?”

The feeling at Sony, which is intent on being the Michael Jackson company, is that Europe and Japan will be even bigger than America sales-wise. They’re probably right. Michael never lost his luster abroad.

Meanwhile, the executors of the Jackson estate were in court yesterday getting permission to do some licensing. They’re re-publishing Michael’s autobiography, “Moonwalk,” with Shaye Areheart Books. Areheart was assistant to Jackie Onassis back when she published the book at Doubleday. Other licenses were also approved, although I’m told the estate is playing it safe right now, and not doing too much. Just enough, they say.

As a family court date for the Jackson family looms on August 3rd, here’s something to chew on: the words of Katherine Jackson about her rocky marriage and near divorce.

We know that Katherine Jackson twice filed for divorce from Joseph Jackson, in 1973 and and 1979. Each time she pulled back the papers. He even fathered a daughter, Joh’Vonnie, from an outside relationship.

Katherine published an autobiography called “My Family, the Jacksons,” co-written with Richard Wiseman, in 1990, from St. Martins Press. Here’s an excerpt:

“I didn’t believe it right up until I got a call from a friend in 1974, informing me that Joe was having an affair.

“I knew the girl in question…Originally she had been interested in Jackie…I was devastated…I didn’t think I could forgive him for what he’d done. I remained in this muddled state for longer than I’d care to admit: seven years. During this period, I heard rumors of other affairs. But I still couldn’t bring myself to file for divorce., even though a couple of times I came close…In 1981, I finally did file for divorce. But to my amazement, Joe wouldn’t move out.

“My attorney told me I could get a restraining order against Joe, and if he still refused to leave the house, have the police forcibly remove him.”

Ultimately Katherine Jackson feared bad press’”they would jump all over it”’so she let Joe Jackson stay in the house and decided to try and forgive him. She withdrew these divorce papers as well.

In the book, she did include a quote from eldest daughter, Rebbie, who left home at 18 and married rather than stick around and live through the dysfunction in the Jackson household.

Rebbie says: “What my father did got to me. There were times when I couldn’t stand being in his company, because I’d start thinking about his affair…I encouraged her to leave him. I knew that he was damaging her spirit, that she couldn’t possibly have peace of mind.”

The British tabloids are all excited today that Michael Jackson might have another child.

He doesn’t. All they had to do was a web search to find my column from October 2004. The young man in question, Omer Bhatti, didn’t meet Michael until he was 12 years old. But why should that stop speculation?

Omer is the son Riz and Pia Bhatti. In the mid 90s, the Bhattis dressed Omer up to look like Mini-Me Michael and brought him to Jackson’s Tunis hotel. Omer did a little Jacko imitation, and Michael loved it. He took the whole family on tour with him. Later, he moved them all into Neverland. Pia Bhatti was the original nanny for Prince Michael I when he was born in 1997.

The Bhattis have had a long relationship with Michael. Even after the parents returned to native Norway, Omer stuck around Neverland. The police found him there in 2003 when they conducted a surprise raid.

One reason some people think Omer was Michael’s son was because Jackson used to tell them that. Back in 2004 when I wrote the original Omer story, several sources told me Michael had confided in them that this was the case. It was a lie, however. It either reflected Jackson’s desire to have children, or explained why he was keeping the boy at Neverland.

What does Omer do now? Why, he’s a Michael Jackson impersonator, of course. Really, you couldn’t make these stories up. No one would believe it.