Gawker: defamer, the imaginarium of dr. parnassus

Take this with a grain of salt, but AICN...

Molly Friedman — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:41:25 EST

Take this with a grain of salt, but AICN is reporting that Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus director Terry Gilliam has cast Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law to film the remaining scenes that Heath Ledger was to have played. If word from Harry Knowles' camp ends up being true, it'll be quite a score for both the project and the notorious bad-luck magnet Gilliam. While it remains to be seen how Heath Ledger's scenes will be integrated into the final product, we can all agree that this casting news is a definite improvement over Christopher Plummer's vision of using "stills and something I think they call CGI" to save the flick. [AICN]

Christopher Plummer Thinks 'Parnassus' Can Be Saved Using Stills And Something He's Pretty Sure Is Called CGI

Mark Graham — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:12:48 EST

When we last checked in on the status of The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus, the Terry Gilliam joint that featured the final work that Heath Ledger committed to celluloid, the project looked to be in serious jeopardy. However, as we should have all learned by now, it's impossible to underestimate the power of creativity in Hollywood, especially when a $30 million production budget is on the line. According to an interview that Christopher Plummer gave to People (and since when is he on the radar of People, anyway?), the project hasn't been shitcanned quite yet:

"Terry's throwing himself into the job of trying to salvage the picture. [He's] trying to work out at this moment how to continue on. Fortunately, because the film deals with magic, there is a way, perhaps, of turning Heath into other people and then, using stills and I think they call it CGI."

Listen, we're not about to string Captain Von Trapp up for not knowing about recent cinematic innovations like color photography, dissolves or green screens. However, it does seem a bit off-putting that he blabbed to People about Ledger's pill-popping final days on set.

"We all caught colds because we were shooting outside on horrible, damp nights. But Heath's went on and I don't think he dealt with it immediately with the antibiotics ... I think what he did have was the walking pneumonia. [Heath] was saying all the time, 'dammit, I can't sleep'...and he was taking all these pills [to help him]."

Regardless of whether or not it's true, someone who's been around as long as Christopher Plummer should surely know by now that "no comment" is the best response in situations like this. Best leave the speculations about the cause of Heath Ledger's tragic death up to the professionals.

Show Will Go On for Heath's Last Movie, Says Costar [People.com]

Just as we surmised, the bad luck for director...

mollyf — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:30:39 EST

Just as we surmised, the bad luck for director Terry Gilliam continues, as recent news from the Vancouver set of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus suggests production on the fantasy pic will be permanently shut down following Heath Ledger's sudden death. Tragedy aside, we are especially sad to report that this news also means that everyone's favorite Mini Me, serial public urinator Verne Troyer, is out of a job. But we're sure Little Person obsessive Gilliam will find room for the hairless hamster in his next sure-to-be-doomed film. [Us Magazine.com]