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Entertainment & Arts

Posthumous triumphs

A death doesn't always mean the end of a career. This summer, sales of Michael Jackson albums have skyrocketed. After his death on June 15, Jackson's albums -- not unexpectedly -- shot to the top of the pop charts, and may very well end up as some of the best-selling albums of 2009. In the three weeks after his death, Jackson's works sold about 2.3 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. And there's more to come. the Associated Press recently quoted industry sources as saying that there is an "endless supply" of unreleased Jackson material. In the fall, Sony Pictures will release "Michael Jackson's This Is It," a documentary film that chronicles the rehearsals for what would have been Jackson’s comeback concerts. A double-disc CD with previously unreleased material will accompany the film. As history has proven time and time again, art and commerce outlive the artist.

A death doesn’t always mean the end of a career.

This summer, sales of Michael Jackson albums have skyrocketed. After his death on June 15, Jackson’s albums -- not unexpectedly -- shot to the top of the pop charts, and may very well end up as some of the best-selling albums of 2009. In the three weeks after his death, Jackson’s works sold about 2.3 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

And there’s more to come. the Associated Press recently quoted industry sources as saying that there is an “endless supply” of unreleased Jackson material. In the fall, Sony Pictures will release “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” a documentary film that chronicles the rehearsals for what would have been Jackson’s comeback concerts. A double-disc CD with previously unreleased material will accompany the film.

As history has proven time and time again, art and commerce outlive the artist.  (Kevin Mazur / Associated Press)

Heath Ledger

Death: Jan. 22, 2008

Post-death success: Ledger was quickly becoming a hot commodity in Hollywood after garnishing an Oscar nod for his performance in “Brokeback Mountain.” Buzz about his next big movie -- Batman’s “ The Dark Knight” -- was already on the rise, thanks to leaked images of Ledger in his entire Joker get-up. When award season rolled around, Ledger defied tradition and won an Oscar for the action-flick along with a Golden Globe. The film is also one of the highest grossing in history.  (Jennifer S. Altman / for The Times)

Philip K. Dick

Death: March 2, 1982

Post-death successs: “Blade Runner,” “Total Recall,” “The Minority Report” and “A Scanner Darkly” are just some of the films that have been based on novels or short stories written by the sci-fi scribe who is often tagged with the apt moniker of “visionary.” On Dick’s site, a stat mentions that since his death and “Blade Runner’s” release, films developed from his fiction have averaged about one movie every three years -- “a rate of cinematic adaptation exceeded only by Stephen King.” That’s heady company.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

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