'Doctor Parnassus' Paid Visit By A Six-Eyed Guardian Angel

Seth — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:58:17 EST

· Variety floated the days-old AICN rumors about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus this morning. Namely, they re-report that Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell have all signed on to play the role in which Heath Ledger was originally cast. Reps for Cate Blanchett, meanwhile, have yet to confirm her involvement, but it's widely assumed she'll also throw her interpretation into the ring, and walk away with the picture. [Variety]
· The ACE EDDIE Awards give top editing honors to The Bourne Ultimatum and Sweeney Todd. The best reality show editing went to an episode of Cops (for real!), though the winner's acceptance speech was tragically cut short when he triumphantly waved his Golden Scissors trophy above his head and lost his grip. [Variety]

· Variety identifies the true villain of the writers strike: You! "Internet's supporting role in the strike is another reminder of the way the Web has inadvertently helped pollute society, coarsening the level of discourse and incubating online communities prone to wildly lash out at enemies real and imagined." [Variety]
· In the first major post-strike network purchase, one-hit wonders Max "I'm secretly Karen!" Mutchnick and Dave "My writing partner's secretly Karen!" Kohan have sold a sitcom pilot to ABC. The project, originally set up at CBS, follows "a gay writer and a straight writer, who are best friends, and their hot young assistants." Yes, yes, we know what you're going to say—but you didn't let us finish: The writers are cavemen!
· More below-the-line guild awards: Jess Gonchor took the top prize for a contemporary film for No Country for Old Men at the Art Directors Guild's 12th Annual Awards for Excellence in Production Design, while Jack Fisk took best period art direction for There Will Be Blood. The 44th annual Cinema Audio Society Awards, meanwhile, gave Country top honors. (And deservedly so: Anton Chigurh's footsteps alone deserved special recognition.)

'Parnassus' Marketing Machine Kicks Into Gear, Despite Uncertain Fate Of Film

Molly Friedman — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:55:05 EST

Terry Gilliam's pledge that the Parnassus show will indeed go on just got a shot of quasi-validity. Amid reports that production has been shut down, the movie's online marketing campaign began taking root this week. Not only did (an admittedly bare bones) official website go live, fanboy outpost Quick Stop managed to get their hands on the first official teaser image (with another to follow). However, there's still one little problem that needs resolving. Namely, what to do with Heath Ledger's remaining scenes?

Earlier plans to replace Ledger with a new actor (say, Johnny Depp) haven't materialized. And despite Christopher Plummer's assertions to the contrary, it doesn't seem like CGI will save the day. While the quagmire will surely unravel itself (hopefully soon), we're instead choosing to focus our attentions on the teaser image itself (shown below): the pic reveals stage left of the traveling Imaginarium itself, made out of what looks like shredded cardboard, decked out with carnie lights, and topped off with quite the eerie all-seeing Eye of Providence.

QUICK STOP EXCLUSIVE: THE FIRST TEASER IMAGE FROM 'THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS' [Quick Stop Entertainment]

Gawker: defamer, the imaginarium of doctor parnassus

'Doctor Parnassus' Paid Visit By A Six-Eyed Guardian Angel

'Parnassus' Marketing Machine Kicks Into Gear, Despite Uncertain Fate Of Film