Ledger Death Leaves Imaginarium Uncertain
According to SciFi Wire, the sudden death of actor Heath Ledger has thrown at least one film into a state of limbo. Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus recently wrapped filming in London, but Ledger was expected to play one of the lead roles in the film.
According to the SciFi Wire report, Ledger’s involvement was a key factor in raising the money necessary to produce the film. Imaginarium‘s producers have yet to issue a statement regarding the film’s future.
If it's wrapped filming, what's left to do that couldn't be done by a voice double or something like that? (Remember, David Niven's last "Pink Panther" appearance actually featured a redubbed voice performasnce by Rich Little.)
Apparently they are only done with the location work in London – they were still planning a lot of studio and blue screen filming. I'm afraid Gilliam's bad luck strikes again. Maybe they can make another movie about how this one went wrong. I really like Gilliam's movies – it is frustrating to see them constantly running into trouble. From the limited info on line, I'll guess that if they go forward they will need to write in a new character to hit the plot points that Heath will be unable to cover.
Funny you bring up Gilliam's bad luck with films. It completely slipped my mind while I was writing that post up. Makes me want to pop in my copy of Lost in La Mancha.
Yeah. Maybe his next movie should be FRIDAY THE 13th: BROKEN MIRROR. That could just get it all out of his karma.