Michelle Williams’ new film has been put on hold following Heath Ledger’s death.
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Shooting on Blue Valentine has been postponed while Williams mourns Ledger, the father of her two-year-old daughter Matilda, who died in New York last week.
A source said: “We will hold off until she is ready. The production is in the process of sorting it out in respect to her.”
However, producers on the movie – which also stars Oscar-nominated actor Ryan Gosling – are refusing to recast Williams’ role in the hope the 27-year-old former Dawson’s Creek actress will eventually return to the project.
The source added to People magazine: “We’re hoping she will still come back and do the film and are happy to wait. The film is tailor made for Williams and Gosling so of course we would want to wait. You can’t get much better than those two working together.”
Meanwhile, director Terry Gilliam is trying to “salvage” The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus which Ledger was in the middle of shooting before his shocking death.
Gilliam’s close friend Christopher Plummer, who stars as title character Dr. Parnassus in the movie, said: “Terry’s throwing himself into the job of trying to salvage the picture. He’s terribly saddened by what happened, and is trying to work out how to continue. He wants to dedicate it to Heath.
“Fortunately, because the film deals with magic, there is a way of turning Heath into other people, and then use stills and computer generated imagery (CGI).”
Veteran actor Plummer also revealed Ledger was ill while on location in London for the project.
He added: “We all caught colds because we were shooting outside on horrible, damp nights. But Heath’s went on and I don’t think he dealt with it immediately, even when he was taking antibiotics. I think what he had was the walking pneumonia.
“We had to shoot every second we were out there. There was hardly any time to keep warm.
“He was saying all the time, ‘Damn it, I can’t sleep’, and he was taking all these pills to help him.”
Ledger’s initial autopsy results have proved “inconclusive”, and the body will now undergo toxicology and tissue tests to determine the exact cause of death.
