Johnny Depp and Jude Law set sights on Vancouver
Star actors Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law are reportedly coming to Vancouver to take the place of Heath Ledger in the film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.The movie was starting shooting here when Ledger was found dead in his Manhattan apartment in January from an accidental drug overdose.
All three stars will share Ledger’s character of Tony, the love interest in the Terry Gilliam-directed fantasy film, Reuters reported.
Kirk Shaw, CEO of Vancouver’s Insight Film Studios, called the decision to cast three actors to replace Ledger “brilliant.”
Adding one love interest in the story – in which Dr. Parnassus offers his daughter’s hand in marriage to whoever can beat the devil at seducing souls – might not make sense, whereas adding three would, he said.
“I think Terry Gilliam has done a really good job of rethinking his film to keep the footage that is already shot with [Ledger],” Shaw said.
Filming had just finished in London and had moved to Vancouver when Ledger died.
“I actually think it was brilliant thinking on Gilliam’s part on how to alter his story line to introduce new love interests in the film,” Shaw said. “And I don’t know how he’s done it, but I know that’s what he’s doing.”
The addition of the three big names will not necessarily blow the film’s $30-million budget out of the water, as all three are rumoured to have agreed to a pay cut in tribute to Ledger, who was best known for his role as a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain.
But the new faces could mean a bigger payday for the film because “when they release this film, they’ve got a huge story,” Shaw said.
And that’s great for the future of B.C. film-making, he added.
When a successful film is made in B.C. – like Juno, which has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture – “it shows the quality of work that can be done with the crews here,” and that attracts more productions to the area, he said.
Pete Mitchell, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Vancouver Film Studios, said the really good news is that the film was proceeding.
“We all expected it to die,” Mitchell said. “It’s good news for crews, it’s good news for suppliers and it is good news for the industry to have high-profile actors of any kind, especially a Johnny Depp.
“You’ve got Johnny Depp in town, it creates a lot of interest and [raises the profile of] Vancouver as a place to shoot,” he said.
Peter Leitch, president of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C., agreed the film will “showcase the province” and should be a boon to the industry.
“It’s always positive. We’ve done some shows here in Vancouver that have been successful at the box office, and that’s bodes well here,” he said.
“More importantly, it shows we’re producing world-quality productions that are being shot in Vancouver. … A lot of these are star-driven, which can be good for the industry.”
Infinity Features, which is producing the film, referred questions to its public relations agency in California, which was closed for the U.S. Presidents’ Day holiday.
