Following Heath Ledger’s sudden death last month there were small concerns over his role in Batman: The Dark Knight and really big concerns over his role in Terry Gilliam’s “Doctor Parnassus”. Ledger was still very mid-way on the work for Gilliam, leaving a large void of scenes left to be completed. The options for “Parnassus” included scraping the entire project, finding a new actor for Ledger’s role and refilming all his scenes, or lastly to find an alternate actor to complete his scenes. The studio has decided to go with the third option and Gilliam has already lined up the replacements. Yes, that’s right. Not just one actor will be stepping up for the role, but rather three separate actors will be taking on the job.

AICN reports that Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell will share the responsibilities. The storyline will suit these substitutions easier than you might expect as the subject is fantasy and features Ledger’s character falling into a magical world where things are not as they seem. His change in appearance will be worked into plot and should blend gently. I’m thrilled with this decision by those involved and I think audiences will respond very well to it. Not to be too morbid, but I imagine “Doctor Parnassus” will get an extra boost from this being Ledger’s final role.

If you’re new to Terry Gilliam’s work (”Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, “12 Monkeys”, “Time Bandits”, “Brazil”) then you’re in for a treat. Gilliam does what David Lynch can’t with fantasy, mind-benders. He makes them palpable to mainstream audiences. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy Lynch, but his movies leave you with that “what the?” aftertaste. Bring it on, Gilliam.