LATEST NEWS

Sony Pictures Classics Releasing Gilliam's Imaginarium in December

by Alex Billington
August 13, 2009

I'm surprised it took this long (after Cannes and Comic-Con) for Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus to find a distributor here in the US, but that's how Hollywood works I guess. Variety has confirmed what we've been hearing - Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Parnassus and will release it sometime later this year. SlashFilm is saying that it might hit on Christmas Day, but that's an early rumor, and they might do a staggered release to build Oscar buzz anyway. An international trailer for Parnassus hit the web recently as well (watch it here), but I've been waiting for a high definition version of it to feature.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a very interesting film to market and release, not only because it comes from the imaginative mind of Terry Gilliam and features plenty of trippy CGI scenes set in Parnassus' imagination while all wrapped around a funky premise. But it is also Heath Ledger's very last film, and, as we all know, it also features three cameos from Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, who filled in for Ledger after his tragic death last year. I saw this in Cannes twice (read my review) and enjoyed it, so I will be supporting it, as I think it's one of Gilliam's better films. But I'm curious to see what SPC does with it.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, written and directed by Terry Gilliam, stars Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Lily Cole, Tom Waits, and Heath Ledger. If you're a Gilliam fan, then there's no doubt you'll be seeing this in theaters. As for everyone else, well, are you planning on catching it on the big screen?

Tweet Pin It

Related categories: Indies, Movie News, Opinions