Cursed Gilliam & Tragedy of "Parnassus"

email this story
read comments (29)
post a comment

With the death of Heath Ledger, director Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is in a tight spot, to put it mildly. Ledger is/was the star of Gilliam's fantasy film, which shot exterior scenes in London last month but, according to a Wikipedia summary, has more shooting to do in Vancouver.

Heath Ledger during last month's London filming of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

Parnassus is set in London, so the Vancouver scenes will presumably be interiors, which usually constitute the bulk of any film unless you're shooting Lawrence of Arabia. If Ledger's planned Vancouver interiors aren't that extensive, maybe Gilliam can fudge some of his unshot scenes with some CG cut and paste work, as Ridley Scott did with the late Oliver Reed's footage in Gladiator.

Adam Dawtrey's 1.23 Variety piece about this situation says that "blue-screen work [on Parnassus] was due to start in Vancouver next week and continue until early March." He also wrote that "the producers have yet to issue any statement about how or whether they plan to proceed without Ledger."

Gilliam is no stranger to massive film-shoot calamity, as anyone who's seen Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe's Lost in La Mancha will tell you. It's about the awful luck that plagued the shooting of Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, which led to the whole thing being scrubbed.

Of course, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus was plagued anyway with one of the worst titles in the history of cinema, so Ledger's death double-fucks it.

Parnassus is operating on a reported budget of $30 million, according to Wikipedia. Production began in December 2007 at London's Battersea Power Station, Tower Bridge, and St. Paul's Cathedral.

Gilliam and Adventures of Baron Munchausen collaborator Charles McKeown co-wrote the script for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It's a present-day piece about a thousand-year-old Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) "leading a traveling theater troupe and offering audience members a chance to go beyond reality through a magical mirror in his possession," the Wiki summary says.

"Parnassus had been able to guide the imagination of others through a deal with the Devil (Tom Waits), who now comes to collect on the arrangement, targeting the doctor's daughter (Lily Cole). The troupe, who is joined by a mysterious outsider (Ledger) embark through parallel worlds to rescue the girl."

Dawtrey's piece also reports that Ledger had been "working on what would have been his feature directing debut, an adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel 'The Queen's Gambit,' with British writer/producer Allan Scott.

"The leading role of a young female chess prodigy had been offered to Oscar nominee Ellen Page. Ledger, himself a highly rated chess player, was due to play a supporting role.

"In an interview last month, a few days after shooting started on Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam said, 'Heath is extraordinary. He's just so good, and he's going to be a film director. He's watching everything, and he's going to be a much better director than I will ever be.'"

Sundance Is Over<< previous | next >>"Choke" video

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 23, 2008 at 8:57 AM

comment #1

MickTravis says ...

Isn't the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus just down the block from Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium?

Sorry. I'm truly crushed by yesterday's news, but I could not help myself....

Posted by MickTravis at January 23, 2008 10:17 AM

comment #2

Josh Massey says ...

I'm not sure publishing that photo is in the best taste, but then again, I've never had the best taste (I really liked 10 Things I Hate About You).

Posted by Josh Massey at January 23, 2008 10:20 AM

comment #3

Rich S. says ...

I'm still haunted by those seemingly ubiquitous teaser posters for The Dark Knight: "Why so serious?"

Posted by Rich S. at January 23, 2008 10:21 AM

comment #4

Jeffrey Kunze says ...

I came home from work yesterday afternoon and found a Netflix in the mail. It was Monster's Ball. I decided to watch it.

About ten minutes after the scene in which Health Ledger commits suicide in front of Billy-Bob with a gunshot to the chest (Have you ever loved me? - I hate you - Cause I always loved you BANG) my friend calls me up and tells me Ledger was just found dead.

I flipped! This is 100% true. How freaky is that. How many other movies does Ledger die, much less commit suicide in, and I happen to watch that now-haunting scene Monster's Ball just minutes before news of his death.

Damn. Coicidence of no? Life is freaky sometimes.

(I was always strumming my guitar while I was watching and actually started playing the theme to Brokeback Mountain before I heard the news. No lie.)

Posted by Jeffrey Kunze at January 23, 2008 10:25 AM

comment #5

RoyBatty says ...

Well, guess Gilliam can be thankful this time the calamity isn't weather and simple poor-health. One can assume his completion bond covers this and Ledger's role can be reshot with a replacement.

Not being insensitive, but having watched LOST IN LA MANCHA it would be terrible if yet another film of his got de-railed.

Posted by RoyBatty at January 23, 2008 10:33 AM

comment #6

rocco says ...

Wells, have to agree with Massey, that photo offers nothing of value and is in poor taste...

Posted by rocco at January 23, 2008 10:39 AM

comment #7

York "Budd" Durden says ...

Completion bond should indeed cover such an occurence... Gilliam et al are probably discussing what would be cheaper, reshooting non-blue screen location work with a new actor, or doing some CGI fudging during the greenscreen shoot to somehow keep Heath, or else doing CGI fudging to get replace his face in the location scenes with a replacement actor who'd finish the part.

Posted by York "Budd" Durden at January 23, 2008 10:42 AM

comment #8

Ross says ...

Not to be insensitive to Ledger's death, but wow, I can't believe this happened to Gilliam again. The man is cursed when it comes to the making of his films, seems that every one of his productions has some kind of calamity behind it.

Posted by Ross at January 23, 2008 10:45 AM

comment #9

Walter Sobchak says ...

It boggles that people still give Gilliam large amounts of money to make movies. The film in question sounds retched. I was a Python guy from my time in diapers, and as a youngster particularly I convulsively laughed at his skit-connecting animations.
In fact, there are fewer directors in history I have rooted for more and yet has continually let me down. I even thought "Brazil" ran out of gas about half way through. (Gasp! Heresy!) It seems that with Gilliam it's just one bloated, over-indulgent, overly-production-designed man-child ramble after another. The only film of his I've really liked is "Fear and Loathing..." and that has more to do with Depp, Del Toro and Thompson than anything Terry did.
I'm ranting. It's just that I saw that title "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" with Gilliam's name attached and I almost wretched. It sounds like a parody of a Gilliam film. Let me guess, there'll be a knight on a horse at some point along with small children looking at him with wonder and awe. Ugh.

Posted by Walter Sobchak at January 23, 2008 10:51 AM

comment #10

JoeGreenia says ...

I had no idea Parnassus was in production, having given up Gilliam as dead in the water after Grimm and Tideland back to back. But IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m an old-school Gilliam fan and wow, Tom Waits as the devil?! This would have been a must see for me. Opening day, and I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t do opening day. I read something speculating that Ledger had finished on it. Wishful thinking there?

LedgerÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s death is enormously sad. Gilliam just canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t catch a fucking break. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll be keen to find out what comes of this.

Posted by JoeGreenia at January 23, 2008 10:59 AM

comment #11

Breedlove says ...

Massey, agreed on '10 Things...' It's a good movie, quite funny and charming. I'll really remember him for that as much as almost anything else.

Posted by Breedlove at January 23, 2008 11:06 AM

comment #12

Bocephus says ...

"that photo offers nothing of value and is in poor taste..."

Really? We all know that Ledger was a method guy, I think this picture, and knowing that he was playing a suicidal character, sheds a lot of light on his death. His insomnia problem was a direct result of how he created his Joker character. He has shown us what can happen when you take the method too far.

If nothing else, we can learn something from Heath. THIS is why your balance out your resume with the occasional light, easy movie. Constantly throwing yourself into these types of roles is bad for your health. Now I understand why Daniel Day Lewis says that he needs all the time he takes off between roles.

Posted by Bocephus at January 23, 2008 11:38 AM

comment #13

jason4235 says ...

Brazil, 12 Monkeys, and Fear and Loathing were great. His last two were pretty disappointing though.

Posted by jason4235 at January 23, 2008 11:50 AM

comment #14

p.Vice says ...

What are all the clenched assholes complaining about that picture going to do when Ledger's Nick Drake video hits YouTube?

Posted by p.Vice at January 23, 2008 12:19 PM

comment #15

Luke Y. Thompson says ...

I love a lot of Gilliam's movies, but how many times does a director have to have "bad luck" before one starts to wonder if it's really bad luck, or he just works really badly and inefficiently? He reminds me somewhat of comics writer Alan Moore, a definite genius but one who has burned most of his bridges in the comics industry for being too strange and difficult.

Lena Headey just trashed Gilliam in Starlog. Of course, he didn't want to work with her in Brothers Grimm to begin with so that might explain them not getting along.

Posted by Luke Y. Thompson at January 23, 2008 12:37 PM

comment #16

RoyBatty says ...

Man, no love at all for TIME BANDITS.

Oh, damn - is there a Gilliam curse? Just how many of his stars have died at their own hands?

Posted by RoyBatty at January 23, 2008 12:42 PM

comment #17

wda says ...

"The film in question sounds retched."

"It's just that I saw that title... and I almost wretched."

You got those backwards.

Posted by wda at January 23, 2008 1:01 PM

comment #18

Reedyb says ...

If the strike stays on, then maybe Johnny Depp could step into rescue Gilliam.

Posted by Reedyb at January 23, 2008 1:09 PM

comment #19

Sean says ...

"Just how many of his stars have died at their own hands?"

I think it's a stretch to connect this to the death of David Rappaport, unless you can think of others to fill it in.

Posted by Sean at January 23, 2008 1:47 PM

comment #20

Sean says ...

"but how many times does a director have to have "bad luck" before one starts to wonder if it's really bad luck, or he just works really badly and inefficiently?"

If you've read 'Losing the Light' and/or seen 'Lost in La mancha', you know that it's not so much that he works badly or inefficiently, but he does tend to believe too strongly in the power of the "unstoppable juggernaut" nature of making a movie; ie, once you start, you keep the thing moving no matter what and it *will* get to the end no matter what.

It often works, but he seems to put a little too much faith in the wrong people (it's kind of heartbreaking to read about the making of 'Munchausen', where he really did get utterly screwed by a lot of producer politics).

Posted by Sean at January 23, 2008 1:50 PM

comment #21

Sean says ...

"His last two were pretty disappointing though."

In ten years, 'Tideland' is going to be the movie (like 'Munchausen') that people say "I wish Gilliam would make another Gilliamy movie, like 'Tideland', again." It's a lot like 'Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'; it's a marginalized artist pulling together just enough resources to make a movie which combines all the most quintessential elements of their filmmaking.

I can't say that the release version of 'Brothers Grimm' was very good, but I saw an early cut at a preview screening about a year before it came out. That was also not a great movie, but it was very much of a Gilliam movie (with all the negatives and positives that that entails). The odd thing was, the Weinsteins forced him to make the story more straightforward and remove virtually all of the comedy from it, and it just became a flat stupid mess.

boy, I wish people could see just how could Damon and Ledger were in the original cut of that movie.

Posted by Sean at January 23, 2008 1:53 PM

comment #22

Ross says ...

I didn't think this would become a Gilliam bashing session. The man's a visionary of the highest order: Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Fisher King, MÃ¼nchhausen, Time Bandits, Fear and Loathing; all classics in my eyes. Not to mention his work within Python.

So Brothers Grimm and Tideland didn't hit on all cylinders, there is still some very cool stuff within each of them. I'd love to see the aforementioned Directors Cut of Grimm.

Cynics, the lot of ya.

Posted by Ross at January 23, 2008 3:20 PM

comment #23

Sean says ...

Personally speaking, I rank 'Tideland' with the best of Gilliam's work. And I'll say that I was more emotionally moved by it than any Gilliam movie other than 'Fisher King'.

Clearly, he needs to keep working with Bridges.

Posted by Sean at January 23, 2008 3:23 PM

comment #24

D.Z. says ...

Walter: "It boggles that people still give Gilliam large amounts of money to make movies.The film in question sounds retched."

If they can give Uwe Boll dough, why not Gilliam?

Roy: "Oh, damn - is there a Gilliam curse? Just how many of his stars have died at their own hands?"

Forget that for a sec. How many talented stars and directors have had their careers ruined after working with Jake Gyllenhall?!

Posted by D.Z. at January 23, 2008 3:32 PM

comment #25

Sean says ...

DZ - you should watch 'Tideland'. I think you'd admire the brain damaged teenager. With a little luck and a lot of perserverance, you could even rival his intelligence some day.

Posted by Sean at January 23, 2008 3:43 PM

comment #26

JoeGreenia says ...

MTV is reporting that the Parnassus crew has been dismissed.

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1580139/20080123/story.jhtml

Posted by JoeGreenia at January 23, 2008 4:29 PM

comment #27

queenie says ...

Wait a sec, D.Z., how many stars have had their careers ruined after Gyllenhall?

Posted by queenie at January 23, 2008 5:27 PM

comment #28

D.Z. says ...

Sorry, misspelling. I meant Haal, not Hall.

Posted by D.Z. at January 23, 2008 5:31 PM

comment #29

jeffmcm says ...

DZ uses all his brainpower manipulating the finger-levers of his computing machine to make the word-symbols and doesn't have anything left over for thought.

Posted by jeffmcm at January 24, 2008 4:07 AM