I would title this Bloggery “Comic-Con 2009 Day 2,” but I’m going to reach back a little to the second half of Day 1 since yesterday’s post went up before the Avatar panel, plus people are still talking about that New Moon presentation more than 24 hours later. Unfortunately, there’s so much news and hype coming out of the Con today (Gary Oldman spills Batman 3 beans! Saw VII is greenlit!) that I may ignore some the stuff I care less about, like all the “awesome!!” responses to movies that will more than likely be commercial failures (like the ten listed here). Unless they’re really hilarious or profound.

Without further ado (I have little to say in this intro because I’m not at the Con), check out my favorite coverage from San Diego from the last 24 hours after the jump:
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Opening today, Soul Men features the final performance from Bernie Mac, who died unexpectedly on August 9. The movie also includes a cameo from Isaac Hayes, who died one day later. Both men join a long list of people whose last films were released after their deaths, a list that includes Brad Renfro, whose final performance, in The Informers, can be seen in theaters come next May.

Unlike some names on that list, Bernie Mac, whose voice can also be heard in the new animated sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, isn’t likely to receive a posthumous Oscar nomination as a tribute to his final work. But as one of the most underrated comic actors of the past few years, Mac likely gives a great performance as soul singer “Floyd Henderson,” enough to fall in with the crop of posthumously released roles we’ve showcased below:

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“Even Heath Ledger Can’t Help Terry Gilliam Find a Distributor.” I’d like to state, for the record, that I object to the headline on this Guardian story pointing to a Hollywood Reporter piece on the uncertain release fate of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus — but it did get my attention, unlike the Reporter story itself, which was published late Friday.

The most interesting thing about both stories is the eagerness to use the Ledger angle to recast Parnassus as a film that should be commercial, but for some mysterious reason––and despite Ledger’s involvement––isn’t. The hysterical takeaway becomes, “Ahhh! Nobody wants to release Heath Ledger’s last movie! Whatever could be wrong with it?!?!??”

Nevermind the fact that, had its star not died, no one would have expected a new Terry Gilliam film to be a big lure for US buyers anyway. Nor the fact that the Reporter’s anonymous sources who say they don’t want to buy the film apparently haven’t seen it. Ahhh! Film buyers aren’t clamoring to exploit the final footage of a celebrity martyr sight unseen! Whatever could be wrong with them?!?!??“

Though I first buzzed about an Academy Award nomination for Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight more than a month before his death, I now want to take it all back. I feel all the talk of Ledger’s posthumous Oscar chances will cloud my mind when I finally do see it, and it will probably also cloud the Academy’s judgment, too. Six months from now, when the nominations are announced on January 22 (coincidentally the one-year anniversary of Ledger’s death), if Ledger is not recognized for his role as The Joker, there will surely be an uproar — actually, Hollywood might just up and self-implode.

I’m not the only one annoyed by all the Oscar buzz. Terry Gilliam, who directed Ledger in The Brothers Grimm and the upcoming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, is calling “bullshit” on the whole thing, particularly against Warner Bros., which Gilliam accuses of exploiting Ledger’s death and chance of a posthumous Oscar for publicity purposes. Considering most Oscar campaigns for live actors are really just part of movie marketing, he has a good point.

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In a story published online last night, Variety’s Sharon Swart named the 15 films across both the Cannes Film Festival and the Cannes market that are expected to attract the most attention from buyers. At least one of the titles, Steve McQueen’s Hunger, has been bought in the hours since the story hit the website. At least one more, described as a “martial arts fantasy actioner, currently shooting in Romania…[starring] Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore and Japanese popstar Gackt,” sounds unspeakably (but not necessarily unsaleably) ridiculous.

Two more of the films on Swart’s list are related in that they were made the focus of unexpected and unwanted attention in January by the death of Heath Ledger.

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There’s been quite a bit of speculation as to how the death of Heath Ledger would impact The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, a fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam, which Ledger had been on a temporary break from shooting at the time of his death. US Weekly is now reporting that the Vancouver set of the film has been shut down, and all crew members have lost their jobs. Says their source: “I just got the call [Tuesday] saying everyone was being let go. We were supposed to start this weekend, but obviously they fired everyone today. They don’t know yet what they are doing with the footage that was already shot.”

This morning, Chris linked to a Variety story which said that Gilliam had only been able to secure financing for the project because of Ledger’s involvement. If it has to be scrapped, it’ll be the second Gilliam project to fall apart mid-shoot, after the infamously disastrous Man Who Killed Don Quixote.