Ledger's final film screens at Cannes

CANNES, France, May 22 (UPI) -- A fantasy film Australian actor Heath Ledger was working on before he died has screened at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell signed up to play different aspects of Ledger's character in the unfinished film,m "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," after Ledger died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in January 2008. He was 28.

E! News said "Parnassus," which was written and directed by Terry Gilliam, screened for the first time at the Cannes festival Friday.

The movie is about a man who travels via a magical portal to different worlds that exist in people's imaginations. At its end, the film features an onscreen dedication, "A film from Heath Ledger and friends," E! said.

"There was irony throughout this film and there was even more irony post Heath's death," Gilliam told reporters. "I hope he would be pleased with it. I think he would be."

Gilliam said his initial reaction to Ledger's death was to abandon the project.

"The choice I made was to close the film down," the director said. "I couldn't see how we could finish it without Heath because we were in the middle of production."

Gilliam has said he decided to finish the project to preserve Ledger's final performance and honor his memory.