Stars To Replace Ledger In Movie

Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell will appear as Heath Ledger's character in unfinished film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the BBC has learned.

A spokeswoman for Law confirmed the three would play the role of Tony in the film "subject to negotiations".

She said she did not know how the role would be restructured.

The Terry Gilliam-directed film was halted when Ledger, 28, died from a drugs overdose in the US shortly after filming scenes for the movie in London.

It is thought that original footage of Ledger will remain while Law, Depp and Farrell will play different incarnations of his character, Tony.

The fantasy film follows a travelling theatre troupe which offers audience members the chance to pass through a magical mirror to alternate dimensions.

'Great actor'

Depp, Law, and Farrell are each expected to "become" Ledger's character in one of these new worlds.

Law's spokeswoman said the actor, who is on holiday, was unavailable for comment.
Ledger died from an accidental overdose of six different types of prescription drugs in his New York apartment.

After filming for the movie had finished in London, the $30m (£15.1m) production then moved to Vancouver, Canada for interior and bluescreen scenes before it was suspended upon news of Ledger's death.

At the time, the film's makers described Ledger as "a great actor, a great friend and a great spirit" and said Gilliam and his producers would be "assessing how best to proceed".
Last weekend, international film stars were among mourners at a memorial service for the Ledger in his home town of Perth.

Speakers at the service, which was followed by a private burial for close family only, included actress Cate Blanchett and film director Neil Armfield.

With strike over, glamour back for Oscars

The end of the Hollywood writers strike means the Oscar show will be the usual star-studded, fashion-filled extravaganza, organizers promised.

"The strike, the bad news, is past us," Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said Thursday.

The 80th annual awards show will be held February 24 at the Kodak Theatre and will feature a host of A-list stars. Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus, George Clooney and Nicole Kidman will be among the presenters. Others include Denzel Washington, Martin Scorsese, Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford and Tom Hanks.

Had the three-month writers strike not ended Tuesday, the Academy still would have put on a "B" show -- one without the glitter of the nominated actors, virtually all of whom said they would not cross a picket line.

"The 'B Show' was going to have the musical numbers, and there was going to be a lot of energy to that," telecast producer Gil Cates told AP Television. "But it was going to rely mostly on film clips, mostly on historical clips, because it is the 80th year of the Oscars."

The "A" show will feature performances of the year's five nominated songs. "Enchanted" star Amy Adams will sing "Happy Working Song," one of the film's three nominated tunes.

Kristin Chenoweth and Marlon Saunders will perform "That's How You Know" and Jon McLaughlin will sing "So Close," also from "Enchanted."

Adieu Heath Ledger

International film stars and close relatives were among the mourners at a memorial service for Australian actor Heath Ledger in his home town of Perth.
The service was to be followed by a private burial for close family only.

The 28-year-old star of Brokeback Mountain died of an accidental drugs overdose last month in New York.

Hollywood star Cate Blanchett was a speaker at the service, along with Neil Armfield, who directed Ledger in his last Australian film, Candy.

Ledger's former fiancee, Michelle Williams, attended the service along with Australian actors Bryan Brown and Joel Edgerton.

'Difficult to cope'

Local musician Levi Islam told reporters outside that he opened the service by playing an ancient Aboriginal tune on a didgeridoo.

His father, Kim Ledger, told reporters the family wanted to be allowed to grieve alone.

"We're finding it pretty difficult to cope by ourselves, let alone with everyone else around the world," he said.

"Having said that, we do really appreciate the outpouring and the emotional support from all over the globe."

About 500 people attended the memorial service at Penrhos College, in the Perth suburb of Como.

Mourners then went to a wake at the city's Cottesloe Beach, which was one of Ledger's favourite places.

Lethal combination

A memorial service was held in Los Angeles last weekend.

On Wednesday, the New York City medical examiner ruled that Ledger died from the combined effect of six different prescription drugs.

They included painkiller Oxycontin and anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax.

Traces of painkiller Ibuprofen and the sleeping pills Restoril and Unisom were also found in Ledger's blood.

Kim Ledger said: "While no medications were taken in excess, we learned the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy."

Local media reported that Ledger would be buried in a family plot, next to his grandparents, in a Perth ceremony.

Coen Pair Win Top Directing Award

Coen brothers film No Country for Old Men has won top prize at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) awards.
"Oh, we get two of them," Ethan Coen said as he and brother Joel were presented with their trophies for outstanding feature film achievement.

The crime drama is already leading the Oscar nominations along with There Will Be Blood, with eight nods each.

The DGA awards have often proved to be an accurate barometer for who will win the Best Director Academy Award.

The film stars Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem and tells the story of a drug deal that goes wrong on the US-Mexico border.

The Coen brothers beat off competition from fellow directors Sean Penn, Paul Thomas Anderson, Tony Gilroy and Julian Schnabel.

The DGA represents the directors of films and TV programmes.

Other winners included Yves Simoneau, who won the best director for a TV film prize for Bury My Heart on Wounded Knee.



Unlike many awards ceremonies, the DGA honours are always untelevised, so it has been unaffected by the screenwriters' strike which turned the Golden Globes into a low-key affair earlier this month.

In contrast, the Screen Actors' Guild awards will be the first red carpet event of the film awards season on Sunday evening.

Oscars doubt

The strike will not affect the ceremony - with actors showing solidarity with the writers, SAG has reached an agreement with one of the Writers Guild members to write the script for the ceremony.

US TV shows are expected to boost their coverage of this year's ceremony because of the possibility it will be the only glitzy awards event this year - there is still uncertainty over how the strike will affect the Oscars next month.

But some predicted the red carpet would still be a sombre affair due to the strike and the recent death of actor Heath Ledger.

"I think it will be a little low-key based on Heath Ledger, a fellow actor, and considering what the strike has done to people who have lost a lot of money, are out of work, are losing their homes," Rob Silverstein, the executive producer of TV show Access Hollywood, told Reuters.

Oscar officials have said its ceremony will go ahead as planned on 24 February but the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has not yet granted a waiver in the event the strike has not been resolved by that date.

Best cast

Sean Penn's road trip movie Into the Wild leads the field for the SAG Awards with a total of four nominations.

Alongside Into The Wild, No Country for Old Men, 3:10 To Yuma, Hairspray and American Gangster are recognised in the best cast category.



Into the Wild star Emile Hirsch is nominated for best actor along with George Clooney for Michael Clayton, Daniel Day Lewis for There Will Be Blood, Ryan Gosling for Lars and the Real Girl and Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises.

Cate Blanchett, Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Angelina Jolie and Ellen Page are all nominated in the best actress category.