There’s been quite a lot of buzz around Heath Ledger’s final role in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus. Not only is it the Academy Award winning actor’s swan song, but this is writer/director Terry Gilliam’s (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) first film in four years, since The Brothers Grimm, starring Ledger and Matt Damon.

The film is about Doctor Parnassus and his wondrous traveling show. Parnassus makes a deal with the devil to live forever, and living with this curse consumes the good doctor. He then comes across Tony, in his multiple incarnations, and things get turned upside down–literally.

The film is written by both Gilliam and Charles McKeown (Ripley’s Game). The cast is rounded out by the super team of Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrel, Jude Law (all playing the same character), Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole (St. Trinians), and even Tom Waits as the devil.

Check out the first full trailer for the film after the jump. Catch The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and Ledger’s final performance, on Christmas Day from Sony Pictures Classics.

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With the first Sherlock Holmes movie featuring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law not even out in theaters until this Christmas, it looks as if Warner Bros. is already hard at work developing a sequel. This second installment is reportedly bringing writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney, currently working on the studio’s Justice League: Mortal, on board to pen a draft of the new script. In addition to that news, it seems the studio has its eye on a very well known actor to portray Holmes’ arch nemesis Moriarty in the film: Brad Pitt.

In case you’re not familiar with this updated take on Holmes, its more of an action-heavy rendition of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle creation and features Downey, Jr. as the title character, Jude Law as Watson and Rachel McAdams as love interest Irene Adler. The film is directed by Guy Ritchie who may return for the sequel as well as most, if not all, of the original cast.

Developing sequels to films not yet released seems to be more of a trend these days in order to shorten the time between installments of a new franchises. Plus, developing sequels early is also relatively low cost for the studio because only writers need to begin work at this stage while other deals for talent and director are being worked out. It makes sense, especially for a film like Holmes, which based on the trailers released so far and what we saw of it at the recent Comic-Con in San Diego, looks to be a monster hit.

The first Sherlock Holmes hits theaters on December 25th. The next chapter? Maybe sooner than we think.

Megan Fox hadn’t finished taking photos at the end of the Warner Bros. presentation for Jonah Hex before Robert Downey Jr. leaped onstage past the starlet to the surprise and delight of the crowd gathered for the Sherlock Holmes panel. SciFiWire notes Downey acknowledged the applause of the crowd by bowing to the packed hall before screening a clip from the film..

The footage introduces Downey as Holmes, Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, Holmes’ female foil and sometime lover, Jude Law as Watson and Mark Strong as Lord Blackwood. One sequence features Holmes squaring off in a ring against a much larger man; before they battle, he imagines (in slow motion) what he should do to maximize the damage he can inflict, then does it in real time. Later, Holmes is bested by McAdams’ character, who seduces him, chains him to a bed and leaves him for a chambermaid to discover. The clip also featured a lot of big action, including a fight scene atop a drawbridge and a showdown by the docks.

Director Guy Ritchie wasn’t in attendance to promote the film, but producers Susan Downey (Robert’s wife) and Joel Silver and co-star McAdams took the stage with Downey to talk about the character. Susan Downey suggested that Sherlock Holmes “applies as much today as he did” in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, while Silver praised the interpretation of him, saying “Downey really is genius in this role. He made it come to life.”

McAdams pointed out that she had the freedom to develop her character, unencumbered by the legacy and mythology of the Holmes novels, mostly because Irene appears in only one book, for about 10 pages. She also said that Irene was uncharacteristic for Holmes’ era, explaining that “she kind of lives in the underworld. [Holmes and I] develop this kind of strange, unique love affair.”

At the end of the panel, Susan Downey revealed that although Mrs. Hudson makes an appearance in the film, none of the other Baker Street characters are in the film. Regardless, she insisted that the film has “a narrative unique to the movie.” Sherlock Holmes opens Christmas Day.

Here’s a list of some of the new DVD and Blu-ray releases this week we’re particularly interested in. Plus, some old favorites (and not so favorites) coming out this week for the first time on Blu-Ray.

Movies:

• Watchmen (Director’s Cut) ~ Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Malin Ackerman, Jackie Earle Hailey (DVD and Blu-ray)

• Coraline ~ Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, and Jennifer Saunders (DVD and Blu-ray)

• 300: The Complete Experience ~ Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West (Blu-ray)

• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow ~ Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Angelina Jolie, and Giovanni Ribisi (DVD and Blu-ray)

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While Robert Downy Jr. is off wearing his iron suit, there is another aspect of the multifaceted actor that we get to see on the silver screen this year, in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, out this Christmas. The first trailer hit a few months back, and looked pretty awesome. The newest one has the same clips from the film, but with a bit of a twist.

With the first trailer, the big reveal was that Downy Jr. was playing Sherlock Holmes, but in the beginning of the International trailer, the reveal is that Sherlock Holmes is being played by Robert Downy Jr. Check out exactly what that means after the break, and expect to see Sherlock and Watson–played by Jude Law–in the theaters this Christmas.

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Sure, we may not the first to bring you this new trailer but really, who cares? Like we need an excuse to watch, and talk about, anything with Robert Downey, Jr. in it. The trailer in question is, of course, for director Guy Ritchie’s upcoming Sherlock Holmes starring Downey, Jr., Rachel McAdams and Jude Law. Now, thanks to the folks at Trailer Addict , we can bring you the new trailer for the film in all of its cinematic awesomeness. Or, at least in that little window down there.

In case you’re not familiar with this new, improved version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic detective, the story concerns Holmes and his trusted sidekick Watson as they embark on their latest challenging mystery. Revealing “fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.” Plus, there’s probably a lot of freeze frame and extreme slow motion shots — but probably no Madonna.

Sherlock Holmes hits theaters on December 25th (aka Christmas). Meantime, check out the trailer right here.