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MaineWriter:
From the Associated Press:

Sales Spike for Heath Ledger Films

By JAKE COYLE – 15 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Heath Ledger's death has spiked sales and interest in the late actor's films.

As often happens after the death of a famous actor or musician, many have sought to revisit or simply discover his work. Three of Ledger's movies charted among the 25 best-selling DVDs on Amazon.com as of Friday afternoon.

Most have been purchasing copies of Ledger's 1999 comedy "10 Things I Hate About You" and his 2001 period action flick "A Knight's Tale." After those films, Ledger pursued more dramatic, challenging roles, with 2005's "Brokeback Mountain" — the third most popular of his DVDs on Amazon — being roundly considered his finest achievement.

The 28-year-old Australia native died Tuesday in a Manhattan apartment. Toxicology tests to determine the cause of death will not be completed for at least a week.

Ledger's latest film to be released, the multi-persona Bob Dylan film "I'm Not There," has mostly completed its theatrical run. It played in only 61 theaters last weekend.

The lone theater it remains playing at in New York is the Film Forum, an art house and repertory theater that has been screening "I'm Not There" since it was released in November.

"The film is doing very well and as long as it does well, we'll play it," said Film Forum first-run programmer Karen Cooper. "I don't imagine that it's going to do better because of his loss. I think it's doing as well as it is because it's a very strong and interesting and unusual film."

The impact of Ledger's death on his last completed project, "The Dark Knight," remains to be seen. The latest installment in the "Batman" series, Ledger plays the Joker, and his dark, twisted take on the villain had been a focal point in the film's advance promotion.

Since Ledger's death, over seven million have flocked to YouTube to watch trailers of "The Dark Knight." Over one million have watched a clip of an interview where Ledger discusses the Joker role.

Warner Bros., the studio distributing "The Dark Knight," has not yet announced any change in schedule for the film, which is planned for a blockbuster summer release on July 18.

"Certainly `The Dark Knight' is one of the most anticipated films of the year," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers. "I think Warners is just going to stay the course and keep marketing the film."

As for its box office performance, Dergarabedian suspects the film is so big that it "kind of transcends almost anything like this that might happen." He adds that the film's release will to a certain degree honor Ledger, whose performance was already expected to impress moviegoers.

At the time of his death, Ledger was in the midst of shooting "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," a $30 million film directed by Terry Gilliam. The movie recently completed shooting scenes in London and was soon to resume production in Vancouver, British Columbia. Producers have not said whether the film will continue or not.

In the film, Ledger was to co-star with Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole and Tom Waits. Options open to producers — depending upon how many scenes Ledger had left to shoot — include recasting (and thus reshooting) his part, finishing it with the help of a body double (as was done after Brandon Lee died while making 1994's "The Crow") or simply canning production.

Ledger had also been preparing to make his feature directing debut by adapting Walter Tevis' novel "The Queen's Gambit."

In an interview last month with Variety, Gilliam told the trade paper: "Heath is extraordinary. He's just so good, and he's going to be a film director. He's watching everything, and he's going to be a much better director than I will ever be."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hwNoKpqUfow2XucrYxYpeu9F90egD8UD61DO0

Artiste:
What is this strange connection between Heath and an actress who was called 4 times by masseuse?? - asks Tom Hays.
Is it strange... may I ask?

I am refering to this article:

--- Quote ---By Tom Hays, The Associated Press


NEW YORK - The masseuse who discovered Heath Ledger's body spent nine minutes making three calls to "Full House" actress Mary-Kate Olsen before she dialled 911 for help, police said Thursday. The masseuse called Olsen a fourth time after paramedics arrived.
The details about the calls do not have any significant bearing on the investigation because authorities believe Ledger was dead at that point and have ruled out foul play. But they paint a more precise picture of the bizarre series of events surrounding Ledger's final moments.
Police originally said the masseuse made two calls to Olsen in seeking her help about what to do, but revised it to four after taking a closer look at Ledger's phone records. The masseuse, Diana Wolozin, apparently knew both Ledger and Olsen and that they were friends; all the calls were made from Ledger's cellphone.
At 1 p.m. Tuesday, Ledger's housekeeper went into his bedroom to change a light bulb, saw him sleeping and heard what she thought was snoring. The masseuse showed up for Ledger's appointment at about 2:45 p.m. and knocked on his door and called his cellphone at 3 p.m. to wake him up.
After setting up her massage table, she tried to wake Ledger and realized something was wrong.
That was when the episode took a strange turn.
At 3:17 p.m., she made a call to the Olsen twin that lasted 49 seconds. At 3:20 p.m., she made another call - this one lasting a minute and 39 seconds. She made a third call at 3:24, which lasted 21 seconds.
She called 911 at 3:26 p.m.
Before this frenzy, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help with the situation, the NYPD said.
Paramedics arrived at 3:33 p.m., and actually went up in the elevator to the apartment with Olsen's security guards. Paramedics did not allow the security guards into the bedroom where Ledger died, and they declared him dead at 3:36 p.m. - 19 minutes after the first call to Olsen.
The masseuse called Olsen a final time at 3:34 p.m. The duration of that call was unknown.
Before moving to Manhattan, Ledger lived with then-girlfriend Michelle Williams - who played his wife in "Brokeback Mountain" - in Brooklyn, and the couple had a daughter, the now two-year-old Matilda. The couple split last year.
Williams and Matilda returned to their Brooklyn home Wednesday evening from Sweden. The 27-year-old actress had been there shooting scenes for the upcoming film "Mammoth," said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film.
A gaggle of reporters gathered outside the funeral home in search for news about Ledger's funeral but Ledger's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said Thursday no details on funeral or burial arrangements would be shared with the media. A long line of celebrity deaths have been handled by the same funeral home over the last century, from Judy Garland, John Lennon and Notorious B.I.G. to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Leona Helmsley.
An Australian newspaper reported Friday that Ledger would likely be buried in his hometown Perth, in western Australia, after a star-studded funeral service in Los Angeles. Australian model Sophie Ward said she was planning to fly to the United States on Friday for Ledger's funeral service.
"I think we're going to L.A.," Ward told the West Australian newspaper for its Friday edition.
"This is just a funeral service. He'll probably be buried in Perth."

--- End quote ---
....

Was this articlce placed here before?

Hugs!!

MaineWriter:
from MTV:

Jan 25 2008 6:15 PM EST

Heath Ledger's Death: Awards Shows Struggling With How To Pay Tribute


Almost immediately after the sudden death of Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger on Tuesday, tributes from colleagues, friends, family members and fans began to flood in. Many have been moved to honor the man some called one of the best actors of his generation.

Now, three days after Ledger's death, many awards shows are trying to figure out how best to do the same thing.

"Something's gonna be done," a representative for the Independent Spirit Awards, who did not want to be named, told MTV News. "We just don't yet know what."

A previous ISA Best Male Lead nominee for "Brokeback Mountain," Ledger was slated to receive the Robert Altman Award with director Todd Haynes and the cast of "I'm Not There," a film in which Ledger was one of six actors to play the role of Bob Dylan. The 28-year-old actor was to be among the very first recipients of the award, named last year in honor of director Robert Altman.

Ledger's presence at the ceremony, which he attended last year with then-fiancee Michelle Williams, will be sorely missed and appropriately noted, sources said.

"Obviously it's on everybody's minds over here. It's been discussed: 'What are we going to do about Heath?' " another ISA source, who also did not want to be named, revealed to MTV News. "We're figuring out what to do, but we're working on something. Luckily, we've got a month."

Compounding the delicate matter for the ISA is the fact that Ledger is not the only nominee to pass away. Also up for an award is writer/director Adrienne Shelly, who was murdered in New York in November 2006. A nominee for Best Screenplay ("Waitress"), Shelly and Ledger will be similarly honored, according to the ISA.

While the Independent Spirit Awards has time on its hands in composing an appropriate tribute, the Screen Actors Guild Awards is not so fortunate. Though not up for a SAG Award this year, Ledger, a two-time nominee — again, for his work on "Brokeback Mountain" — should be honored at this year's ceremony if time permits, a source told MTV News. A representative for the awards show said they were working furiously to insert Ledger into a video-memoriam package, although it's been complicated by the fact that he died so close to the show's airdate, which is Sunday.

Also planning to acknowledge Ledger is the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Awards, a show that honors individuals and projects for their positive representations of the gay community. Along with co-star Jake Gyllenhaal, Ledger was lauded for his portrayal of a homosexual ranch hand in Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain."

"GLAAD intends on acknowledging Heath Ledger's death at the 19th annual GLAAD Media Awards," publicist Nick Adams told MTV News. "We are still in the early stage of production, and do not know at this time what form that will take."

Representatives for the Academy Awards could not be reached by press time.

The most interesting tribute, however, may not come from colleagues. In the wake of Ledger's death, the Web site WhySoSerious.com — which for months has been the primary location of online viral marketing for "The Dark Knight" — was updated recently with a black ribbon. Ledger recently completed his role as the Joker in the highly anticipated sequel.

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1580366/20080125/story.jhtml#

BelAir:
I'm just wondering if anyone has the full text of the messages that Heath's family wrote.  I know various articles have all quoted excerpts, but I don't think I've seen the full text listed... ?

MaineWriter:

--- Quote from: BelAir on January 26, 2008, 11:38:09 am ---I'm just wondering if anyone has the full text of the messages that Heath's family wrote.  I know various articles have all quoted excerpts, but I don't think I've seen the full text listed... ?

--- End quote ---

You can see them here:

http://www.thewest.com.au/printfriendly.aspx?ContentID=55984

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