The Heath Ledger aftermath
Heath Ledger’s baby mama Michelle Williams and young daughter Matilda Ledger have now arrived in New York from Sweden according to TMZ and this video of their arrival is posted on their site. Williams is joined by her mother, sister and some friends and is staying in the home that she and Heath had once shared (they were together from 2005-2007.)
Michelle Williams, the 27 year old Oscar nominated actress is joined in New York by her mom, sister and some friends are at the home that she and Heath Ledger once shared. Williams most recently appears in the Sundance Film Festival entry “Incendiary” directed by “Bridget Jones Diary” director Sharon Maguire. Ironically, the film co-starring Ewan McGregor, is about an adulterous woman who has her life torn apart when her husband and infant son are killed in a suicide bombing at a soccer match. The film premiered on Sunday night at the Park City festival only hours before Heath Ledger’s death.
As for the fate of Ledger’s last films, Variety reports that the two projects most affected by his death - Warner Bros. “The Dark Knight” in which Ledger plays ‘The Joker’ and “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” in which Ledger was scheduled to complete shooting for the independent film which Terry Gilliam was directing.
With regard to “Parnassus” Ledger will either be replaced in the role or the director will shoot around him or shut the production down entirely. The insurance and bond guarantee company will determine the best option for the producers to take. The $30 million independent film produced by Samuel Hadida, Bill Vince and Amy Gilliam is being financed by Hadida’s company based in France.
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus“ was set to star Ledger, with Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits and Lily Cole also in the cast. The plot line revolves around an ancient traveling show that arrives in modern London with a magic mirror that can transport its audience into fantastical realms of the imagination. Christopher Plummer is ‘Dr. Parnassus’ and Heath Ledger plays the role of a mysterious outsider who joins the troupe on a quest through parallel worlds to save the doctor’s daughter from the ‘clutches of evil.’
In the past, CGI has been used to allow producers to finish films such as “Gladiator” and an epsiode of “The Sopranos” in which key actors had died before filming has wrapped. In other instanecs, such as James Dean (car accident) in “Giant” and Brandon Lee (gun shot accident) in “The Crow” stunt doubles were used in order to finish the films. In the case of Natalie Wood (she drowned) a lookalike was used to finish the production of “Brainstorm.”
Other death incidents affecting films in the past include the re-casting of Christian Slater to star in “Interview With the Vampire” after River Phoenix (drug overdose) died and Mike Myers casting of himself in the lead role of “Shrek” following the death of Chris Farley (drug overdose) in 1997.
Warners will deal with ”The Dark Knight” differently. The production of director Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman’ film is mostly complete and the problem that Heath Ledger’s death has caused is one that will largely only affecting a marketing campaign that is thought to have centered on ‘The Joker’ character.
Sue Kroll, Warner’s former International marketing person is now in charge of marketing the film worldwide after Dawn Taubin’s departure for the studio. Taubin was the executive in charge of developing the campaign for “The Dark Knight” in the first place.
Additionally, it is said that Heath Ledger was contemplating a directorial debut with the adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel “The Queen’s Gambit” with British writer-producer Allan Scott as a collaborator. Scott and Ledger had apparently recently offerred the role of a young female chess prodigy to Oscar nominee and “Juno” star Ellen Page.
In an interview last month, a few days after shooting started on “Parnassus,” director Terry 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.”
Heath Ledger & funny hat
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