( CNN ) -- Before he died , Heath Ledger had two films in production : `` The Dark Knight , '' the latest chapter in the Batman saga , and `` The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus , '' the latest film from director Terry Gilliam . Heath Ledger 's Joker character , here on the `` Dark Knight '' poster , is the focus of the film 's marketing effort . Ledger 's death has affected both of them in different ways . The actor , who died Tuesday of unknown causes at age 28 , had finished filming `` The Dark Knight '' late last year . It 's due to be released in July . But marketing of the film , currently in post-production , has been thrown into turmoil , the trade paper Variety notes . The early push for the film has focused on Ledger 's villainous Joker character , including a poster with a shrouded Joker scrawling `` Why So Serious ? '' in blood on misty glass . The film 's studio , Warner Bros. , recently restructured its marketing department , Variety reports , after the departure of the executive who helped create the `` Dark Knight '' campaign . ( Warner Bros. , like CNN , is a unit of Time Warner . ) The trade paper speculates that the marketing campaign will be changed abruptly . The studio put out a statement Tuesday saying it was `` stunned and devastated '' by the news of Ledger 's death . `` The entertainment community has lost an enormous talent . Heath was a brilliant actor and an exceptional person . Our hearts go out to his family and friends , '' the statement said . Watch colleagues ' memories of Heath Ledger » . With the Joker , Ledger was taking on a role that Jack Nicholson had rendered indelibly in 1989 's `` Batman . '' But `` Dark Knight '' director Christopher Nolan said the actor had more than measured up to Nicholson . `` To be perfectly honest ... what he 's doing is indescribable . He 's figured it out , '' Nolan told the crowd at an August comic book convention in Chicago . Interactive : The life of Heath Ledger » . The role as arch villain The Joker disturbed Ledger , according to The Associated Press . He called the character a `` psychopathic , mass-murdering , schizophrenic clown with zero empathy . '' Although unusual , Ledger 's death does not mark the first time a major star has died while a film has been in production . Perhaps the most famous example is James Dean , who died in September 1955 , before post-production on `` Giant '' had finished . Dean 's dialogue in the film 's final scene had to be re-recorded , Variety observes , because he had mumbled in the shot . ( Dean and director George Stevens famously clashed during filming . ) Dean was nominated for an Oscar for his performance , his second posthumous Oscar nomination after `` East of Eden . '' Brandon Lee died during filming of 1994 's `` The Crow , '' prompting director Alex Proyas to use a stunt double and special effects . Oliver Reed had a heart attack during the making of 2000 's `` Gladiator '' ; technology made it possible for director Ridley Scott to use a double as a stand-in with Reed 's face computer-generated in . Gilliam 's film , which concerns prime Gilliam material such as a magic mirror , a traveling show , the devil and a rougish character played by Ledger , is more problematic . The cast had just completed filming in London , which actor Christopher Plummer characterized as `` cold as bejesus '' to Entertainment Weekly . `` You know how damp it gets in London . And at night the temperature drops horribly , and that little breeze gets up . You have to wear tons of stuff , '' he said . Plummer said that Ledger had a `` terrible , lingering bug in London , and he could n't sleep at all . We all -- I thought he 'd probably got walking pneumonia , '' he told EW . Gilliam has had challenges before . During the making of his film `` The Man Who Killed Don Quixote , '' the Monty Python troupe member coped with filming near a NATO shooting range , a flash flood and a star with a herniated disc , a final indignity that prompted financiers to pull the plug . But nothing approaches Ledger 's death . Indeed , part of the reason Gilliam was able to obtain the film 's relatively paltry $ 30 million financing was because of Ledger 's agreement to star , according to Variety . Ledger and Gilliam had become close during the making of Gilliam 's `` The Brothers Grimm '' and Ledger had plans to become a feature director himself , several sources have reported . The actor had directed a handful of music videos , including one for Ben Harper , with whom he formed a record company . Last month , Gilliam told Variety , `` He 's going to be a much better director than I will ever be . '' Plummer told EW that `` Parnassus '' had `` an enormous amount left to do . '' After a short break , the cast was going to re-convene in Vancouver , British Columbia , primarily for technical and special-effects work . `` God knows what 's going to happen now , '' Plummer said . E-mail to a friend .
Heath Ledger was subject of `` Dark Knight '' marketing campaign . Ledger was filming new Terry Gilliam film when he died . Gilliam said Ledger was going to be a fine director .