As much as I hated Terry Gilliam's last film, Tideland, I still consider him my favorite living filmmaker (Tideland was the first to completely disappoint me) and was looking forward to his next feature, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus more than possibly any other film in the works. Unfortunately, Parnassus lost its star when Heath Ledger died suddenly last week, and there was lots of talk that Gilliam's latest would be scrapped. Anyone who has followed Gilliam's career knows that would be more than tragic, because Parnassus would be the second major work of Gilliam's to go unfinished after shooting had begun (see the depressing documentary Lost in La Mancha for the story on his shut-down project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote). Well, after rumors that Ledger would be replaced by Johnny Depp, who would come in and reshoot the late actor's scenes, there is a new claim that Gilliam is going to keep Ledger's footage and continue the shoot using special effects magic.

The claim comes from Parnassus co-star Christopher Plummer, who spoke to People magazine and had this to say: "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..." Plummer, who plays the title character in the film, also mentioned that Gilliam wants to finish the film for his friend (Ledger) and dedicate it to him, too. Additionally Plummer spoke on the working conditions of the Parnassus shoot in London and on Ledger's health prior to his leaving the set, further providing for speculation that Ledger's death was of non-narcotic causes. Anyway, about the finishing with CGI Ledger, that is excellent news, and something I've been expecting to happen all along (if it was good enough for The Crow 14 years ago, it's good enough now). I absolutely loved Ledger in The Brothers Grimm (the first of Gilliam's films to somewhat disappoint me), and I can't wait to see him and his computerized clones in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

This has been going on and on and on for what seems like forever. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote has continually been just a step away. After news started to heat up in May of 2005, Johnny Depp was back on board, then they were "closer" to solving some legal troubles in the fall of '05, and then after a long pause, Terry Gilliam said that they were in the "final, final, final" stages of fixing this legal brouhaha. Of course, almost a year has gone by since then, and the legal issues are still not settled, but Gilliam remains positive and once again is talking about how close they are, this time to Empire.

"[Producer] Jeremy Thomas is very close to getting all the pieces of paper signed from all the people who you gotta get signed. He's been on it for a year now, and he's come the closest to getting it untangled from the legal swamp it was in. And, um, I don't see why, I don't see anything that's gonna stop it now. He's just gotta get all the paperwork done and then I call Mr. Depp and see which pirate film he's still on."

Last year, I probably would've gotten excited over this news, but after the way things have played out, I would be more surprised if the film got made, then if I had to write another blog post next year about Gilliam talking about how close they are to getting it made. But maybe this year will be the year. They'll just have to find a new Quixote first, since Gilliam says Jean Rochefort won't be returning: "Physically, he can't do it. It's a real tragedy, but he can't. His arse is broken."

Stay tuned -- at some point we'll either have production news, or yet another teaser that the film is this close to being made.

Some bits before the weekend:

• So much for that whole story about Ken Burns buckling to pressure and re-editing his latest documentary, The War, as I alerted you to yesterday. Right after reports were released that the film would be edited, a PBS official said that he will not be re-cutting the WWII doc. Who knows how much we can trust any of this back and forth, but as of now, there will still be extra footage, but it will not be seamlessly integrated. According to PBS -- "To the viewer at home, it will be part of the same contiguous experience" with "the same tone and tenor and production qualities" of the long film.
• Yesterday, Jette Kernion let us know that Shane Meadows' This is England had been picked up by IFC and Red Envelope. Today, Twitch has linked to the movie's trailer, and if Martha Fischer's TIFF review wasn't enough to pique your interest, this trailer should be. The film looks flipping great, and the fact that it is based on Meadow's own life, as well as that of his young star, Thomas Turgoose, makes it irresistible in that car crash sort of way.
  
• A year and a half ago, Cinematical posted that Terry Gilliam was trying to get back his script to The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. According to Gilliam: "There was kind of a legal situation where the insurance company and French production company put up a lot of money, but it looks as though things are loosening up." Things weren't as loose as he thought, and all these months later, he still doesn't have it. However, while being interviewed at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, Gilliam says that he's in "final, final, final stages of getting the script back." Once he does, he will talk to Johnny Depp and "find out if and when he's available." Will it happen? I won't hold my breath. "Loosening up" took over a year, so I have no idea how long "final, final, final" is! [via FilmIck]