Last Friday, Hollywood Reporter printed a pretty macabre story which said that even though all the major studios are falling over themselves to be the ones to distribute the last movie for which Heath Ledger shot film — that’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, remember? — they’re reluctant to do so because it’s a film by Terry Gilliam, and he hasn’t necessarily been the best box office bet.
This kind of thinking makes me a little sick. Yes, Gilliam can be difficult, but it was the movie industry that made him so by ruining the first important movie he made by not trusting in his vision. His movies are strange and aren’t necessarily for everyone, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Parnassus is a movie that wanted to be made, because three heavyweight actors (Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law) agreed to appear in the movie, continue Ledger’s role, and donate their salaries to his estate, just so his performance wouldn’t wind up in some film vault somewhere, and Depp is certainly aware of the problems that can happen with a Gilliam production.
My words to studio executives is this: You probably make $20 million a month picking your nose or scratching your armpits. Putting up the money to distribute this film should be a piece of cake if you don’t treat it like a major studio movie and go ape-wild on marketing stunts that make no sense. Movie-going audiences these days can be smart, and the slavering Heath Ledger fangirls are armed with the Internet. They can read up on Gilliam’s weirdness on blogs like this one, and won’t be disappointed like they may have been with The Brothers Grimm. Their minds may even be expanded just a little bit, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing considering that one of Gilliam’s major themes is a rejection of conformity.
Just release this movie, okay?