It has been reported that Heath Ledger will continue to star in Terry Gillham’s up and coming film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus through the use of computer generated imagery (CGI).
After the sudden and unexpected death of the Brokeback Mountain star, Heath Ledger, on Tuesday 22ndJanuary, rumours have been flying over Terry Gillham’s plans for the completion of his film, which Ledger was in the middle of filming. Reports suggesting that the 30 million dollar production was to be abandoned have been heavily denied and speculation that Johnny Depp was going to take over Ledger’s role in the film appear to have been quashed. The newest information to be given is that Gilliam plans to use CGI in order to keep Ledger in his intended role.
According to Ledger’s co-star in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, veteran star, Christopher Plummer, Gilliam is determined to keep Ledger alive in the film. He told the People.com that this should be achievable due to the magical nature of the film whereby “there is a way, perhaps, of turning Heath into other people and then, using stills and CGI”. If done, this will not be the first time that an actor has been re-created through computer trickery; CGI was used to great affect in the film Gladiator after the death of Oliver Reed during filming.
So, after Gilliam’s film is complete the inevitable will be upon us. It will be the last Hollywood film to read the name, ‘Heath Ledger’, in the credits; or will it? Traditionally, CGI has more commonly been used in the generation of special effects and in the production of animated movies. However, as it becomes increasingly detailed and voice software continues to become smoother, the creation of computer generated human actors is growing in feasibility. Who knows, perhaps The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus won’t be the last film to depict Ledger. As technology continues to advance, it is perfectly reasonable (although perhaps a touch unethical and disturbing) to suggest that in the future, CGI may enable Heath Ledger to continue to grace our screens as an immortal cyber star.
Sources
URL:http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1634/is_200203/ai_n6782849
photograph courtesy of www.hollywoodteenmovies.com
The films he left behind will never replace the man…thank you heath.
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I was more sad when I heard about the death of Jeremy Beadle… when I heard Heath died I was like ‘who?’ when I heard Beadle died I was more than devestated.