terry gilliam

4:41AM Defamer Hollywood | 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] More »

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

8:55AM Defamer Hollywood | 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? More »

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

9:12AM Mark Graham | 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 $35 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.” More »

The curse

7:10AM Defamer Hollywood | 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 favourite 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] More »