Heath Ledger is dead.

[[Cameron]]

He was found yesterday in his apartment with a bottle of sleeping pills, cops aren't ruling out suicide or accidental overdose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Ledger#Death
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/actor-heath-ledger-is-found-dead/

[Domino]

I saw that when i came home and went online.  I was shocked by this.

R.I.P. Heath Ledger

[TheJBurger]

Yes, I just found out about this too. It was very shocking and unexpected.

I wonder how this will affect the new Batman movie. Maybe his last performance will become a thing of legend.

[vict0r]

No!? What the hell? Fuck...!

[voh]

Right there with you, victor, all I could think was "what the bloody fuck?".

RIP dude. You shouldn't've.

[Darth Mandarb]

Such a [not shocking] tragedy.  What a waste.

I just don't know why celebrities are still, in this day and age, dying of drug overdoses.  You really think people would learn.  I guess that's putting too much faith in humanity.

And of course Hollywood will still release the new Batman movie ... and they'll even use his death to hype it.  This is Hollywood we're talking about.

[[Cameron]]

They will Darth, and it'll become the biggest seller of the year. Some could say that's a cynical view, but it's how Hollywood will use it.

[auriond]

I got a huge shock. He's a seriously underrated and underappreciated actor. And he's got a fairly clean image so I didn't expect him to go down the usual Hollywood drug-ridden way.

I suspect that the fact that celebrities are still dying of drug overdoses just highlights how dependent we (as a society) are on drugs. I mean, normal people already are; I'm quite alarmed at how some people pop painkillers at the slightest sign of a headache. So I don't blame the celebrities; just this general idea that drugs can do everything.

[Layabout]

Shocking loss.

RIP

[Vince Twelve]

This is truly awful.  The guy didn't have any history of substance abuse as far as I know, so to me it's quite shocking.  I was gutted when I opened up my daily news aggregator this morning and saw "Heath Ledger dead" right at the top.  The guy really was a fantastic actor.

And the worst part of it, to me, is that he's leaving behind a two year old daughter.  Having one of those myself, even though he was separated from the mother of the girl, I can't imagine that anyone but the most selfish person would ever do that on purpose, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for now and assuming that this was a terrible accident.

And of course they'll release the new Batman, movie, Darth.  No studio is going to can a 90% complete hundred-million dollar project for any reason, and you'd be silly to think that Heath Ledger would want that.  As for using his death to hype a movie, yes, the fact that his death is going to be reported by all the news sources is going to spread word of the movie a little bit further, and yes, I'm sure the director, producers, and co-stars will release some statements of grief and consolation which will get some attention from the media as well, but it's not like there are going to be commercials that say "Heath Ledger is dead!  Be sure to see his last movie, The Dark Night!"

I'm first and foremost sad for his daughter, and way way lower on the scale of worry lies Terry Gilliam's new film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus in which Ledger was playing the second lead and was somewhere in mid-filming.  Gilliam's pet projects have historically been plagued with terrible luck and tragedies that get them canceled mid-production.

[Darth Mandarb]

And of course they'll release the new Batman, movie, Darth.

I never said they wouldn't   Never even entered my mind.

In fact I said nearly the same thing you did:

And of course Hollywood will still release the new Batman movie ... and they'll even use his death to hype it.  This is Hollywood we're talking about.

[Vince Twelve]

I was referring to how your post seemed to be be expressing shock or disgust that Hollywood would do such a thing.  Like "And of course those money grubbing bastards will still release the movie, thereby shitting all over Ledger's grave." But maybe I interpreted it wrong.   

I still disagree with the statement about using his death to hype the movie. 

[Darth Mandarb]

Gotcha!

Wasn't my intention ... just expressing the obvious that they would still release the movie.  That part I don't blame them for (or have shock or disgust).  Business is business.

And while I don't agree with using his death to hype the movie they will almost certainly do just that.  It's disgusting ... but they will do it.

[Vince Twelve]

In what way?

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I see what Darth's saying, really.  Something similar happened with Brandon Lee and The Crow.  He'd only attained a mid-range status in Hollywood at the time of his death, but they saw to it that the mystique and the wonder surrounding his family, supposed mafia connections, and the film itself turned him into a cult icon almost overnight.  I'm not going to lie and say I thought Heath Ledger was an awesome actor; truth be told, I thought he was average in most of the films I've seen him in, but that doesn't mean I don't feel sympathy that he's dead -- no more or less than I would feel for any human being that died under tragic and troubled circumstances.  Celebrity meltdowns serve, if anything, to remind the 'average' person that having all that fame, money, and popularity really isn't as wonderful as some think.

[Darth Mandarb]

ProgZ - it's funny 'cause I was talkin' to a friend of mine earlier and that's the same example I used with him (about Brandon Lee and The Crow).  It's not even that great of a movie (terrible acting) yet it now has this cult following 'cause of Lee's untimely death while filming.

I remember really wanting to go see it when it came out because I saw some press for the movie hypin' up how they used new computer technology to "fill in" for Lee in scenes they hadn't filmed before he died.

In what way?

There will be press for it that will say, "See Heath Ledger's last movie before his tragic death..." or any number of other combinations of using the fact that he's dead in relationship to the movie.  I've seen it countless times before.  It's just the way it goes.

[Snarky]

This is very sad news, indeed. Ledger was a young man with a promising career ahead of him, a father of a young daughter, and by all accounts a respected and well-liked actor by his colleagues. To see all that destroyed in a single stroke...  It is of course first and foremost a tragedy for his family. :'(

The reason this is getting such attention, though, has to be that a truly promising talent has been lost. Ledger was just starting to realize his potential, and after Brokeback Mountain and his much-buzzed-about role in the upcoming Batman sequel, looked set to turn into a major star as well as a remarkable actor. And his private life was not constantly in the tabloids, he was not known for stints in rehab or self-destructive behavior, so this comes as a complete surprise.

Darth, the press is going to talk about TDK being his last film, of course. How could they not? He's one of the main co-stars, if not the star of the movie. All the publicity has been focusing on his character. Even if the studio would rather people forget he's dead, they couldn't do anything about it. So yeah, they'll try to spin it so it won't hurt the box office. I don't think they'll make a huge deal of it, though. That would just seem crass and put people off. The reason it became such a big part of the hype for The Crow was that the film was pitched at the goth kids, and that all the morbid imagery in that film resonated so much with the death of Lee (which by itself reminded people of the untimely death of his father). Although the Joker is also a morbid character, the Batman movies aim more for the mainstream. As I recall it, the studio line (at least in public) is usually much more tasteful.

Interesting as it may be to gossip and speculate about the cause of death, it doesn't serve a lot of purpose now. The reports talk about drugs (sleeping pills, which doesn't necessarily indicate a drug habit), but no one really knows. Whether suicide, accidental overdose, some sort of drug interaction, or a completely unrelated cause, there was no reason he had to die. No matter if he was troubled or just unlucky, an end like this is senseless.

RIP Heath Ledger

Man, with Adrianne Shelley murdered, Owen Wilson attempting suicide, Brad Renfro recently OD'ing and whatnot, being a Hollywood star is starting to look like a job likely to kill you. At least this time we were spared the slow-motion trainwreck that was Anna Nicole Smith, and is Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Amy Winehouse, et al.

[Vince Twelve]

Snarky said what I was trying to get at here.  I don't think that the producers are going to do anything more than what amounts to acknowledging that this is perhaps Ledger's last film and that is far from the crass exploitation that you seem to be suggesting will be taking place.

[Nacho]

A stupid death... ergo, double sad.  :'(

[Pet Terry]

The Joker.