The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, the movie that Heath Ledger was halfway through filming when he died, has finally got a release date. It was warmly received at its Cannes premiere in May, but there’s been uncertainty over when the movie would actually hit cinemas in either the US or UK.
While the US release is still a bit of a mystery, it’s now been officially announced that the movie will be hitting theatres in Britain on October 16th.
Although Heath Ledger hadn’t completed filming his role in the movie, director Terry Gilliam managed to finish the film due to the movie’s strange nature, where Ledger’s character travels to strange fantasy worlds at various parts of the movie. Now, whenever Ledger goes to another realm, he is played by Jude Law, Colin Farrell or Johnny Depp.
The movie itself is about Doctor Parnasus, the mysterious leader of a fantastic travelling sideshow, who has a terrible secret. Having made several deals with the Devil for things such as immortality and youth, his final trade was when he promised Mr Nick that the evil one could take posession of his first child when they reached 16 years of age. However, with his daughter now nearly at that milestone, Parnassus desperately renegotiates the deal so that as long as he can seduce five souls before Mr Nick does, his daughter will go free.
It’s a very strange and fantastical journey, and fans of both Gilliam and Ledger will be pleased that they only have to wait a few more months until October 16th to see it. This is Ledger’s film swansong and the movie is dedicated to his memory.