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
Michael Jackson's Thriller (music video) remove the phone from his ear. Jackson's record company had little interest in making another video for "Thriller", believing that the album had peaked. Yetnikoff eventually agreed that the company would contribute only $100,000. To help finance the production, Landis's producer George Folsey Jr suggesting a making-of documentary that, combined with the "Thriller" video, would produce an hour-long film that could be sold on television. Initially, the television networks refused to finance the project, sharing the view that "Thriller" was "last year's news". MTV, which had found success with Jackson's videos for "Billie Jean" and "Beat It", had a policy