February 18, 2008

Heath Ledger's Final Film To Go Forward -- With Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell In His Role: Report

By Shawn Adler (MTV.com)

Heath Ledger died last month at the age of 28, but his final performance will live on - thanks to a little creativity and some famous friends.

Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell have all signed on to film scenes as Ledger's character in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, a magical re-telling of the Faust story, according to Aintitcoolnews.com. The announcement serves as a tribute to the man many have called one of the best actors of his generation.

"Terry was a very good friend [of Heath's]," co-star Christopher Plummer told People last month. "He very much [wanted] to go on with the movie, and I can very much understand why - because he wants to dedicate it to Heath, of course."

The fate of Parnassus was the object of considerable speculation in the wake of Ledger's death.

The film, which only recently moved to Vancouver after exterior shoots in London, centers on the Faustian bargain between the aged Dr. Parnassus (Plummer), a 1,000-year-old performer, and the Devil (Tom Waits). The pair travel through worlds of fantasy locked in a battle over the rights to the life of Parnassus' daughter.

Ledger was to play a magical interloper on a parallel quest. In the film, his character reportedly enters several magical mirrors on his journey. Each time he does so now, he will exit a different actor.

"Fortunately, because the film deals with magic, there is a way of turning Heath into other people," Plummer told People.

Depp previously worked with Gilliam on both Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the ill-fated The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. For Law and Farrell, it will be the first time working with the famously mercurial and imaginative director.