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Before his death, Heath Ledger wanted to open up a restaurant/bar in Brooklyn. His partner and longtime friend Jud Mongell says Heath was really hands-on in getting the doors open.

He says, “He drew the floor plans and thought of the name — BrightSide — because it’s on the bright side of McCarren Park.”

The space has a nautical theme, and is scheduled to open by the end of the summer. As expected, it will include a lot of personal touches from Heath, like a chessboard being engraved into the tables because he loved the game.

Jud says, “Heath was a big chess player.The whole idea was to make it a spot for us. We wanted to make it our own space to hang out. He specifically talked about having a place for him and his family to sit. It was great working with Heath. He was the most unassuming guy.”

BrightSide sounds like a great place and such a nice dedication to the late Heath Ledger. Make sure to stop by if you’re in the area!

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Mary-Kate Olsen may be taking a deep breath after news the U.S. Attorney’s Office closed its investigations.

The investigation into Ledger’s accidental overdose death is over, a law-enforcement source told Peolple magazine.

No charges were filed against the actress and Olsen will not get a subpoena after all. The tiny twin was the first to be called after Ledger’s body was found in his Soho apartment.

The 22-year-old former Full House actress was subpoenaed by a grand jury on April 23, but her attorney had been in negotiations with federal authorities since then, the insider told the magazine.

Olsen requested immunity and earlier this week Olsen’s attorney released a statement saying the actress “had nothing to do” with Ledger’s drugs and had already provided “relevant information” to investigators.

Olsen was the only person who declined to be interviewed in the investigation, the source said. Model Helena Christiansen was interviewed as was Ledger’s ex-girlfriend Michelle Williams and Ledger’s family and friends.

The 28-year-old Joker star was found dead on Jan. 22, and the coroner determined the actor died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs for pain, anxiety and sleep.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Batman sequel “The Dark Knight” smashed yet another Hollywood record as it cleared the $400 million domestic box office mark in 18 days, less than half the time it took “Shrek 2″ to reach that milestone, Warner Bros. Pictures said on Tuesday.

After a third straight weekend at No. 1 in U.S. and Canadian theaters — grossing $42.7 million Friday through Sunday — “Dark Knight” amassed $6.3 million on Monday to bring its domestic tally to $400.03 million, the Time Warner Inc.-owned movie distributor reported.

The previous record holder, the computer-animated storybook spoof “Shrek 2,” crossed the $400 million mark in 43 days back in 2004, according to box office watcher Media By Numbers.

Warner Bros. has said it expects “Dark Knight” to add at least another $100 million to its North American ticket sales, surpassing the $461 million haul of 1977’s “Star Wars” and its two reissues. “Star Wars” ranks as the No. 2 movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

While “Dark Knight” appears destined to become only the second movie to gross $500 million domestically, the $601 million record held by 1997’s “Titanic” seems unlikely to sink, said Media By Numbers president Paul Dergarabedian.

“That $600 million is kind of one for the ages. It’s held for 10 years,” Dergarabedian told Reuters. “It’s very, very difficult to get from $500 million to $600 million. But the fact we’re even talking about it tells you something about the strength of ‘The Dark Knight’ and what a phenomenon it is.”

Adjusted for inflation, though, “Titanic” ranks at No. 6 in the record books, far behind “Gone with the Wind” at $1.4 billion, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo.

“The Dark Knight,” the second of the newly revived Warner Bros. film franchise based on the adventures of D.C. Comics’ Batman character, is a follow-up to 2005’s “Batman Begins.”

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Mary-Kate Olsen was never interviewed by police regarding her involvement in the death of actor Heath Ledger, despite the fact that Ledger’s masseuse bizarrely alerted Olsen of Ledger’s lifeless body before she called the police, and the fact that Olsen’s bodyguards may have arrived at Ledger’s apartment three minutes before paramedics did. Now, the New York Post reports that federal drug agents are trying to get Olsen to cooperate in their investigation into how Ledger managed to finagle a bottle of the painkiller Oxycotin—also known as “hillbilly heroin”—but that Olsen is refusing to talk unless she’s granted immunity from prosecution.

Ledger, who died after accidentally overdosing on a cocktail of prescription drugs, had prescriptions for all the pills from two physicians except for the Oxycotin. One possible theory for Olsen’s refusal to talk to the cops is that Ledger’s masseuse called Olsen after discovering her name on the bottle of Oxycotin, prompting the diminutive actress to dispatch her bodyguards to the scene to clean up any evidence. (Olsen’s people never actually called the police themselves, which doesn’t particularly help her case.)

The Post has called for Olsen to be interviewed ever since the NYPD denied the paper’s scoop that the former Full House star received a series of frantic calls from the masseuse. “We confirmed this story with an impeccable source inside the NYPD, and we stand by our reporting,” the paper’s editor Col Allan said in the aftermath, adding, “we find it odd that the chiefs at the NYPD appear to be terrified of 4-foot 11 inch, 90-pound Mary Kate Olsen.” (In a separate editorial, Andrea Peyser claimed to be “astonished” that the “Teflon midget” has been given a free pass.) Given the paper’s thirst for justice in this matter, is it any surprise that the feds leaked them the story? Could M-K be the victim of a vicious case of press harassment because a paper blew a scoop? Whether her refusal to talk without immunity is simply her lawyer’s call, or if it’s because she is actually hiding something, remains to be seen.

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Photo:Ledger, Olsen  (Photo: Getty Images)

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As “The Dark Knight” took off overseas, Warner Bros. Pictures International became the third major international distributor to surpass $1 billion in foreign boxoffice revenue.

This is the eighth year in a row and the 10th time overall that WBPI has hurdled the industry benchmark.

Warner Bros. said that the Caped Crusader’s opening blast of $40 million from only 20 markets “pushed” the company “over the $1 billion mark in international boxoffice.”

Overcoming the disappointing performance of its early summer tentpole, “Speed Racer,” the company’s other summer releases — the newest Batman entry, “Get Smart” ($65 million) and returns from key selected markets of New Line’s “Sex and the City” — made up for the let down.

Strong contributions came earlier in the year from “I Am Legend” ($210 million in 2008 for total of $328 million), “10,000 BC” ($174 million), “Sweeney Todd” ($100 million), “The Bucket List” ($81 million), and the German film “Keinorhasen,” which took in $49 million in 2008 for a total of $63.5 million.

Paramount Pictures International passed the $1 billion benchmark June 16 and Fox International followed July 8.

Last year, for the first time in industry history, five of the six MPA companies topped $1 billion by the end of July; a sixth studio joined by the end of 2007.

Source:Hollywood Reporter

HEATH LEDGER deserves all the credit for THE DARK KNIGHT’s massive box office haul, according to the movie’s director CHRISTOPHER NOLAN.
Ledger plays The Joker in the movie, the last full film role he completed before his death in January (08) from an accidental drug overdose. And Nolan insists Ledger made the movie a hit.
Speaking at The Dark Knight’s Japanese premiere on Monday (28Jul08), the British filmmaker said, “(He was) what The Joker in our film would need to be.
“(We were) looking for an actor with the fierceness, excitement and teeth to do our version of the Joker.”
Christian Bale, who plays Batman in the record-breaking film, also found time to praise Ledger, telling a press conference, “It’s satisfying to see people celebrating the incredible talent of Heath. I just want him to be recognised.”
In just 10 days since the film’s release in America, The Dark Knight has taken an astonishing $440 million (GBP150 million) at movie theatres worldwide, breaking almost every box office record in the U.S.

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Christian Bale

His blockbuster film The Dark Knight is obliterating box office records, but Christian Bale says the tally is secondary to the audience’s enthusiastic embrace of his late costar Heath Ledger.

“It’s satisfying to see people celebrating the incredible talent of Heath,” Bale said of Ledger’s performance as the villainous Joker. “I just want him to be recognized.”

While the film has earned $300 million in just 10 days, “I would have been happy with this movie even if it hadn’t broken so many box office records,” Bale told audience members at the film’s Tokyo premiere Monday. “I’m used to being in movies that five people go to!”

Adding that The Dark Knight “really raised the bar,” Bale was quick to point out that much of the success was due to Ledger.

Director Christopher Nolan added that Ledger was “what the Joker in our film would need to be.”

“[We were] looking for an actor with the fierceness, excitement and teeth to do our version of the Joker,” Nolan continued. “It’s very different.”

Bale deflected a question about how he’s been holding up since his London arrest, explaining “The fans are not here for me. They’re here for the movie. It speaks for itself.”

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Added 3 more Joker wallpapers to the gallery Enjoy them.

HOLLYWOOD — A driving portion of the Bat Fever that has followed the release of The Dark Knight can be attributed to Heath Ledger’s fearless/terrifying portrayal of The Joker.

Even with the considerable buzz leading up to the release of the movie, few were prepared for the commanding disappearing act that was Ledger’s performance.

Understandably, Academy Awards talk has begun in earnest. While a nomination is an absolute shoo-in, there’s a growing consensus that a win is likely in the cards.

If so, it would be the first time an Oscar was awarded posthumously since 1977, when the late Peter Finch (playing a raging “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” TV commentator in Network) won a Best Actor statuette.

He had died of a heart attack two months prior to the telecast.

Finch was the first and, to date, only person awarded an Oscar posthumously. Should Ledger’s performance go the distance, the actors have some other things in common:

In addition to both hailing from Australia, their only prior Oscar noms were for playing gay characters — Ledger in Brokeback Mountain and Finch in Sunday, Bloody Sunday.

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