The Man Who Killed Don Quixote » Will Terry Gilliam Ever Make Don Quixote?
Terry Gilliam has attempted to start his project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, twice only to have it fall apart due to freak accidents and an absurd amount of bad luck. The project may be cursed as the great Orson Welles attempted to bring the legendary story to the big screen only to have it never released.
Back in 2000, Gilliam had begun production on the film, casting French actor Jean Rochefort, whom Gilliam fought vigorously to have cast, and the impeccable Johnny Depp. Filming had commenced but the 70 year old Rochefort ended up seriously injuring himself while riding a horse (again 70 years old) and had to be flown to Paris for treatment. Then a flash flood destroyed much of the production, washing away the color and texture of the sand in Spain to render all the previous footage shot useless and unmatchable. Time went on waiting for Rochefort to recover, however as more time passed it became increasingly clear he wasn't going to return. Depp couldn't wait any longer in his already busy schedule. Gilliam refused to cast anyone to replace Rochefort for a quick turn around (it took him two years to cast the role) and the producers pulled the plug. Insurance companies recouped as much money as they could from the failed film.
Eight years later. Potential interest in Gilliam's Quixote film begins to emerge. The film had backers. Johnny Depp was still interested in participating but had to pull out after committing to other projects (though he'd return to Gilliam's Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus). His role was recast with Ewan McGregor and Robert Duvall was replacing Rochefort. Unfortunately, as soon as progress was making way, the potential backers got cold feet and abandoned the film.
So there's the history, so what say you? Will Gilliam pull a miracle and eventually get around to filming the movie? Or is the project good and dead?
