Sony Bringing Heath Ledger's Parnassus Swan Song to States This Fall

Well, that was fast. Mere days ago, we were browsing the latest European trailer for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and wondering when Terry Gilliam's madcap fantasia -- which, coincidentally, happens to also boast Heath Ledger's final role -- might find a distributor in the United States. Apparently all we had to do was ask; a deal is in the offing as we speak.

Variety reports that Sony is closing in on an agreement to pick Parnassus up for the States, wrapping up negotiations that have been going on since not long after its Cannes premiere. The studio's classy art-house wing Sony Pictures Classics will likely get the call for theatrical distribution this fall (if anyone can sell "Academy Award®-winner Heath Ledger," it's those guys), followed by a lucrative, open-ended video run among cultists, curiosity-seekers and Gilliam-philes. Co-star Johnny Depp -- making what's evidently his own last good movie, according to Gilliam -- may wield some appeal to viewers as well. And don't even get me started on the Verne Troyer factor.

· Parnassus finds Stateside buyer [Variety]