Heath Ledger to be Digitally Recreated in Dr. Parnassus?

Posted by Michelle Graham (michelle@filmschoolrejects.com) on January 30, 2008

With the sad loss of Heath Ledger late last week, a shadow has fallen over the future of the upcoming Terry Gilliam project, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Imaginarium had been in the middle of filming when Ledger, one of the film’s leads, was found dead and since then its future has been looking shakey at best. Gilliam (Imaginarium’s co-writer and director) hasn’t had the best track record with keeping productions on track through stormy weather and according to Christopher Plummer (yup, Captain VonTrapp himself) he’s doing all he can to keep this one on course, even if it means recreating Ledger in the digital world.

“Terry [Gilliam] is throwing himself into the job of trying to salvage the picture… 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 understandable that Gilliam would want his work completed, but Plummer says that it’s in no way pride that’s driving the director forward. According to him, Gilliam was a great friend of Heath Ledger (they had previously worked together on The Brothers Grimm) and really wants to dedicate Ledger’s last work to him.

With the ability to complete a actor’s performance posthumously a proven trick of the trade, the question becomes whether the act should be done at all. An actor playing a character is more than a mere image on the screen but also words, motions, expressions, each of them unique to that person. Whether or not the ability exists, the question remains: Should it be done at all?

Talking Point: Should Terry Gilliam try to digitally recreate Heath Ledger to save his film?

Related Reading:

Comment Policy: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Film School Rejects reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. We also reserve the right to modify any curse words in your comments and make you look like an idiot. Thank You!

Anonymous

I think it should be done. People think movies are too much about the actor but as an actor I know that it's about the final production than it is about my individual work. Heath Ledger (should have if he didn't) did this movie for the movie and the love of film. It's about the movie not the actor.

Robert Fure

The CGI will look terrible. Shooting around something like this will negatively impact the entire film.

Seems stupid to me.

Jordan

i think it would be more disrespectful to heath's memory to make the film using CGI, etc... than to call it off....i think if they are going to do it, they should go through with that johnny depp rumor, if they could make it work, and maybe johnny could donate his pay to ledger's favorite charity or what have you...

Michelle Graham

I'd agree there, the idea of someone like Johnny Depp (or even Christian Bale, another rumour which has been floating around) finishing off the role would be a fitting approach. The movie's about magic, as Plummer said, and it could easily be accomplished that he steps from one realm into another and returns looking like someone else. Trying to have Ledger in the rest of the movie would just spoil things, and so would cutting him out entirely.

Heath Ledger to be Digitally Recreated in Dr. Parnassus?

Related Topics:

Related Reading: