Thriller (Michael Jackson album) and John Landis. Funded by MTV, the film sold over 350,000 copies in its first few months. In a market then driven by singles, "Thriller" raised the significance of albums, yet its multiple hit singles changed perceived notions as to the number of successful singles that could be taken from an individual album. The era saw the arrival of novelties like the Michael Jackson doll, that appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12 (US$ in dollars). "Thriller" retains a position in American culture; biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli explains, "At some point, "Thriller" stopped selling like a
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (album) film tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends a good-natured extraterrestrial called E.T., who is stranded on Earth. Upon its release, the film became a blockbuster and surpassed "Star Wars" to become the highest-grossing film released to that point. Critics lauded it as a timeless story of friendship, and the American Film Institute ranks it as the third greatest science fiction film ever produced in the United States. Jackson began work on the audiobook of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" in June 1982—around the same time he began recording his sixth studio album "Thriller". Quincy Jones served as the producer