It could be deja vu all over again, in a certain sense, for director Terry Gilliam.

The sudden and tragic death of actor Heath Ledger has not only cast a cloud of uncertainty over his blockbuster-in-waiting The Dark Knight, and their marketing campaign, but also over the film he was shooting at the time of his death, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

According to a story from Variety, it was Ledger's casting alongside Christopher Plummer who portrays the title character in the Terry Gilliam film that was a key factor in the film's financing through producer Samuel Hadida's Davis Film banner. The film recently wrapped its London shoot and was to start production back up in Vancouver where blue-screen work was to commence. It is unclear at this point if they will indeed resume production in Vancouver after Ledger's death.

This sort of scenario isn't exactly new to the visionary director Gilliam. In 2000 Gilliam had to ditch his film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote after his lead, Jean Rochefort, fell ill and couldn't go further. Those events were chronicled in the 2003 documentary Lost in La Mancha.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was released December 25th, 2009 and stars Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Jude Law, Lily Cole, Peter Stormare, Tom Waits. The film is directed by Terry Gilliam.