Yesterday, a rumor came across our desk that we didn’t want to print, because it was essentially an unverified email tip.
The tipster basically said, pssst, Terry Gilliam’s ” ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,’ hitting theaters on December 25.” It wasn’t a bad source, but we felt we should wait on something officially before we jumped out with it.
But we did decide to keep a vigilant eye on the date and lo and behold today others are reporting the same line. Granted, it’s a report from The New York Post, that says ‘Parnassus’ is coming out Christmas Day and they do not point to or mention a studio (our speculation is Lionsgate because they’re releasing the film in the U.K.), but maybe the timing is not so coincidental.
It was just a few days ago that the official Parnassus Twitter feed suggested that a U.S. release date and distributor would be announced shortly. We expect these recent reports will surface that news even quicker and we’re betting December 25 is on the money. Despite us being lukewarm on the trailer (and in some aspects, the film itself) — and suffering the wrath of psychotic Gilliam superfans in our comments, IMDB commenters are the worst — it still is a film we’re hoping to see so we’re glad it appears the ‘Imaginarium’ is finally receiving a U.S. release in 2009.