Johnny Depp + Colin Farrell + Jude Law = Heath Ledger

When Heath Ledger died, most people's first thought was "But what about the Terry Gilliam film he was making that we probably wouldn't have gone to see anyway? What about that?"

But it's OK, because Terry Gilliam has found a way to work around Heath Ledger's death in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Heath Ledger's character Tony will be fleshed out with appearances by Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, who have all stepped in to remember their friend.

Not just that, but the recasting of Heath Ledger's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus role also sheds some light on the character Heath was set to play. It looks likely that Tony will be Irish, mumbling, dressed as a pirate and a bit of an uptight dick. Or something.

Heath Ledger's death stopped several things in their tracks all at once. Foremost of these was the marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, of which Heath Ledger was set to play the biggest part. That's been solved by Warner Bros developing a hush-hush 'Look! Katie Holmes isn't in this one!' strategy that should prove more popular than ever. 

But Terry Gilliam's new film The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus also took a near-fatal hit when Heath Ledger died, because Heath Ledger had already started filming his scenes when he overdosed. The death could have pushed The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus onto the pile of other unfinished Terry Gilliam projects, but now everything's been saved.

According to reports, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law have all signed up to play 'incarnations' of Heath Ledger's character Tony, meaning that the movie is back on track. Variety reports:

Despite the tragic death of pic's star Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell have all signed on to play Ledger's character, 'Tony,' in the film. "Parnassus," which is being produced by William Vince ("Capote"), Amy Gilliam and Samuel Hadida's banner, was shooting in London when Ledger died from an accidental overdose January 22nd. Ledger's character is transported into three separate dimensions in the fantasy pic; these new worlds, which Ledger accesses via a paranormal mirror, will now be inhabitated by Depp, Law, and Farrell.

It all sounds too good to be true - there's a good chance that the film will be a success, with some people going to see it to watch Heath Ledger's last performance and others going to see it because it'll star Jack Sparrow off the funny pirate film - but we're not so sure.

This tactic still represents a massive risk for Terry Gilliam, because now he's not just making a film about a 1,000-year-old man leading a fantastical theatre troupe across several dimensions, but a film about a 1,000-year-old man leading a fantastical theatre troupe across several dimensions that's got Jude Law in it. He couldn't have made it less popular if it was called The Baby-Raping Adventures Of Captain Stab.

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Trio steps in for Ledger - Variety