Below you can watch the first full-length trailer for Heath Ledger’s last film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.  Be it 12 Monkeys or Fear and Loathing, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Terry Gilliam. But even Gilliam might have outdone himself in whacked out story this time, with three different actors (Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell) taking over for Heath Ledger after his date with the giant pile of sleeping pills in the sky. Official synopsis:

Many centuries ago, Dr. Parnassus [Christopher Plummer] won immortality in a bet that found the malevolent Mr. Nick coming up short. While few would be foolish enough to try their luck against the powers of darkness a second time, Dr. Parnassus did precisely that — this time trading his mortality for youth on the understanding that his firstborn would become the property of Mr. Nick [Tom Waits] when the child reaches his or her 16th birthday. Flash-forward to the present day, and Dr. Parnassus’ daughter, Valentina, is about to celebrate her sweet sixteen. Dr. Parnassus is desperate to save his little girl from her fiery fate, and when Mr. Nick arrives to collect, the good doctor presents the Prince of Darkness with a wager too enticing to refuse: Dr. Parnassus and Mr. Nick will each compete to seduce five souls, with possession of Valentina going to whomever manages to complete the task first. [Yahoo UK via QuietEarth]

In related news, R. Kelly wants to know where he can get a piece of this immortality-in-exchange-for-a-16-year-old-you-love deal.  “I get immortality and replace a girlfriend once she gets too old?  What’s the catch!” 

Also, if R. Kelly made a deal with the devil, would the contract be signed in blood or urine?  Discuss.
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Almost 10 years ago, Terry Gilliam tried to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, a cursed production that eventually shut down after delays caused by freak weather and the lead actor’s back problems. The only good thing to come out of it was Lost in La Mancha, a documentary about the experience.  But now Gilliam is set to try again.  Oh hey, did I mention his lead actor (Heath Ledger) overdosed on pills halfway through the filming of his last movie?

Gilliam is teaming up with Brit producer Jeremy Thomas to bring his long-cherished project to the bigscreen. 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. [Variety]

Johnny Depp is great and all, but do we really have to mention his name as a possible candidate for every goddamned role?  I think part of it is that “Johnny Depp” just sounds like a movie star’s name.  If his name was Henry Blakowski I guarantee he’d be cleaning the skidmarks out of Tom Arnold’s underpants right now.  Which is why I’m naming my son “Racecar Hairgel.”

Sorry, folks, but this is what’s passing for news today: a /Film reader released a picture of Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, his final film role.  He only died nine months ago, so you figure it must be pretty new.  And you can almost see half his face in it!  Try not to crap yourselves with excitement.  I had to take a cold shower, myself.  I had the phone in my hand ready to call the doctor when my raging mega huge boner finally subsided at the three hour, fifty-nine minute mark.

Terry Gilliam has famously bad luck. But his next film is called The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, and seeing as how it features Heath Ledger’s last performances as well as appearances by A-listers Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, who stepped in to finish the movie when Ledger died, you’d think this picture would be pretty huge.  And then they release this, the boringest movie teaser I’ve ever seen.

Thanks, QuickstopEntertainment

Terry Gilliam is the legendary director of Brazil, 12 Monkeys, The Fisher King and Fear and Loathing n Las Vegas.  Sadly, everyone seems to think he’s bad luck, and he’s having trouble getting a distribution deal for his latest movie, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, even though Heath Ledger’s in it.

For U.S. distributors, the quirky Terry Gilliam film — centering on parallel worlds, a theater troupe and a devil-dealing 1,000-year-old doctor — presents a conundrum. On the one hand, it’s a chance for the history-making opportunity — not to mention a marketing coup — of releasing Ledger’s last movie.

But it also comes with challenges that lately have followed the stubbornly noncommercial Gilliam. The director has been behind a series of boxoffice flops and hasn’t had a hit since "Twelve Monkeys" in 1995. Buyers who might otherwise be willing to shell out for a Ledger film are holding back.

Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law stepped in to the Ledger role after the actor died in January, with the script tweaked to reflect a shapeshifting element that allowed for other actors to play his role. The trio, who have said that they’re donating their fees to Ledger’s family, took over, as shooting moved from the U.K. to Vancouver. [THR]

Hey, let’s all donate our money to the heirs of the guy who died making the second-highest grossing film of all time!  We’ll save her from poverty.  Here, Matilda, this gold-plated spaceship is your father now.  I have a better idea, why not give money to someone who needs it, someone whose father is alive but has horrible credit, someone who’s old enough to have a crippling gambling problem.  You know Heath would’ve wanted this way.