Oct 7 2009 New 'Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' Trailer Still Leaves 'Imaginarium' Undefined
Here's the new Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus trailer, in all its final-Heath-Ledger-performance, phallic-nosed, multiple-actored glory. If this doesn't make you want to see it, you clearly have an issue with alternately carnivalesque and candy-lacquered surreality making your eyes lose their eye-minds:
Aug 11 2009 'Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus' Trailer a Treat for the Eyes (Unless You're Colorblind)
If you're one of the many who heard about Heath Ledger's final film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and thought, "I have no idea what an imaginarium is; a gymnasium where the mini-tramps are clouds and the dodgeballs are dreams?", you're in luck. This new trailer should explain everything. Actually, no; it won't really explain that much at all. I still have no idea what an imaginarium is. But if I had to guess from this trailer, I'd say it's wherever you go when you're on a lot of acid:
May 15 2009 Here Comes a 'Lost in La Mancha' Sequel
If Terry Gilliam's 2000 attempt at filming a Don Quixote movie were a dog, you would have just put it to sleep. Production was riddled with problems--tight budget constraints, constant jets overhead, Biblically disastrous weather, and an actor with a double-herniated disc trying to ride a horse, to name a few--and eventually canceled, resulting in the 2002 documentary Lost in La Mancha, a chronicle of the disaster.
But Gilliam isn't one to let setbacks get to him--he just completed a film in which his lead actor died part-way through shooting, and he bothered releasing The Brothers Grimm on DVD--and Variety reports he's going to give this Quixote thing one more shot:
The director is reviving his passion project "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" nearly a decade after his first attempt was derailed.Gilliam and screenwriter Tony Grisoni, who also wrote the first version, have rewritten and updated the script. The new film will revolve around a filmmaker who is charmed into joining Don Quixote's eternal quest for his ladylove, becoming an unwitting Sancho Panza.
"I'm not so much a filmmaker as someone who gets possessed by an idea and it doesn't leave me until I make the film," Gilliam told Variety. "I commit myself to it so fully."
Gilliam is also in talks with Johnny Depp, who had been set to star in the first ill-fated attempt as a modern-day ad exec who travels back in time and is mistaken for Sancho Panza by Don Quixote. Scheduling concerns are seen as the biggest obstacle to Depp's participation this time.
Already we're having scheduling issues with Johnny Depp? So we have about a month before a rogue scientist claims a meteor is heading straight for wherever Gillian plans to shoot?
I wish the best for you and this project, T.G., but right now I'm going to try to restrain my enthusiasm and just hope for another good but tragic documentary.
Sep 15 2008 Here's Some Imaginariums from 'Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'
Here's a short preview for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, showing some concept art and early digital work for the new Terry Gilliam film. Even amongst all of Gilliam's typically strange, fantastical designs, the weirdest part is where this implies Verne Troyer is an actual actor. Hasn't he been demoted to comic prop yet?
Continue Reading " Here's Some Imaginariums from 'Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' "
Feb 15 2008 Depp, Farrell, and Law Stepping Into 'Imaginarium'
After Heath Ledger's untimely death, there was some speculation as to who, if anyone, would take his place in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. (Also, who's getting his apartment???) AICN claims to have the answer, and it's a surprisingly long list: Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. According to the site, all three actors will play the character at different points in the film.
I wonder if they're doing this pro bono in honor of Ledger. If it's inflating the budget too much, Gilliam should know he could probably get Frank Caliendo to play fat versions of all four of them for a fraction of the cost.
Feb 11 2008 First Look at 'Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'
This first official look at Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus has been posted on the official site. I like to imagine these actors are waving goodbye to Heath Ledger, who died tragically while shooting the film, and that maybe he's seeing them as he flies by, riding a comet like a horse, and he's doing that Arsenio Hall hand pump thing.
Click for high resolution.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus [Official Site]
Jan 30 2008 Will 'Parnassus' Continue Through CGI and Internets?
Though he seems unclear on the details, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus actor Christopher Plummer has spoken out on how director Terry Gilliam may still try to save Heath Ledger's final performance:
[Gilliam is] 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…
It's clear by his grasp of the term CGI that Plummer has no idea of the specifics of this, and may actually be referring to the Internet, mp3s, or the auto-gyro. But if it's true, I'm curious if they're considering "morphing" him into other actors (like the rumored Johnny Depp) to finish the character's scenes or if it's more along the lines of animating a CGI-Ledger for half the film. I hope the latter, because, as experience has taught us, it's not at all creepy when you see a posthumous performance given through lifeless, computer-generated eyes.
Jan 23 2008 'Parnassus' Production Halted After Star's Death
I don't want to harp on the Heath Ledger issue too much, but, unsurprisingly, production has halted on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and the crew has reportedly been sent home. Ledger had been filming the picture with Terry Gilliam, likely giving the director yet another unfinished production on his resumé.
Adding another level to Gilliam's curse of incompletion, it seems that after finding himself unable to recall which 7-letter TV detective owned a cockatoo, he will be unable to finish yesterday's USA Today crossword.
Jan 14 2008 Look Into the Horrifying, Ledger-Filled Mask of 'Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus'
Just Jared has got some new shots of Heath Ledger from Terry Gilliam's latest, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, also known as Nightmares I Had After Seeing 'Eyes Wide Shut'. The story follows "the leader of a traveling theater troupe who, through a deal with the Devil, takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations.” Knowing Gilliam, at least one person's imagination is bound to involve some dwarfs.
Celebrity Guess Who [Just Jared]
Oct 8 2007 Some Other Crap That Happened...
- Frank Miller has added the sexy duo of Paz Vega and Jamie King to his cast for Will Eisner's The Spirit. I imagine while deciding on them, he made this seductive/haunting expression. [Variety]
- Con Air director Simon West will direct an adaptation of the Iraq War nonfiction book Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad. He hopes to capture the excitement and tragedy of the war, like Black Hawk Down, but also be stupid, like Con Air. [Hollywood Reporter]
- Wesley Snipes has spent the majority of October shooting a sequel to The Art of War, leaving November to regret shooting the sequel to The Art of War. [MovieHole]
- Neil Gaiman wants Terry Gilliam to direct an adaptation of his Sandman series. The writer added, "I would always give anything to Terry Gilliam, forever," then gently slid his hand into Gilliam's waiting palm. [Empire]
