Terry Gilliam - Lost In La Mancha

Started by MacGuffin, January 22, 2003, 05:10:52 PM

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MacGuffin

EXCLUSIVE: Robert Duvall on What's Holding Up Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote Now
Source: Movieline

Robert Duvall visited New York today for the Tribeca premiere of his drama Get Low, and Movieline sat down for a few minutes to talk about the Oscar-winner's typically superb work opposite Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek and Lucas Black. (The film opens July 30 in limited release.) But Duvall also has an eye on the future — or specifically, a long-accursed Terry Gilliam project that he previously confirmed he'd take on when (or if) the director can pull it together. Perhaps not surprisingly, Duvall explained today, that could take a while.

I read you're attached to Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote film. Are you actually doing that?
Money! Once again. He saw me do a thing — if he'd never seen it, he'd never have approached me. He really liked this, too, but I did a movie a while back with Richard Harris (Wrestling Ernest Hemingway) where I played a Cuban barber. And they accepted what I did in Cuba. I worked really hard on it — the accent. And he saw it and said, "I want you to play Don Quixote." Or a guy from a village whom they make Don Quixote for a commercial. He's really a shoemaker. He's an interesting guy, this guy. He came to my farm in Virginia. He's a wacko, but...

Gilliam?
Yeah. He's an interesting guy.

Indeed. Did you know about the cursed nature of the project?
Yes, I saw the documentary [Lost in La Mancha]. And I guess the French actor had learned English for a year and could ride a horse. But it was a different story. This is a guy who was going to become like Don Quixote. And in the end he goes back to shoemaking. It's really a wonderful concept. But he has to get his Sancho Panza. I'm theoretically playing a Latin guy; he needs someone from England. He needs... a name, really. So they're still scratching to get the money, which is a lot more than it was before.

Wow. So Gilliam comes to your farm...
He came to my farm. He's a character; he doesn't like... You know, he doesn't live in America! But he came to my farm in Virginia, and it's beautiful. It's like the English countryside, I guess. He lives in England. And we talked; he'd seen me play the Cuban guy, and he wanted me to play Don Quixote. On the horse and everything. But it's a different take on the guy: He really begins to believe he's Don Quixote, even though he's a shoemaker. I don't even understand the script, totally, because he's just so out there, Gilliam. You know, with dwarfs on the ground and everything. I told him, "You can't have too many dwarfs!" [Laughs] But it was nice. We spent half an afternoon talking, and then he went on. He said, "I'm going to go find my Sancho Panza to play the other guy."

Did you have any recommendations?
For that part? Well, it'd be great if was someone like Danny DeVito — but a younger guy. He's been through quite a few people. The Irish guy who was in Crazy Heart turned him down, which kind of bugged him.

Colin Farrell?
Colin Farrell. But they need a name. He's going after two people now, but he doesn't want to say who they are until after he gets them. But it's been six months he's been after people. And it's a bigger budget than his others. And he doesn't stick to a budget, they say. He goes on and on. And he's got locations picked out in Spain. So it'll be very exciting. And when the time comes — and I know for sure — then I'll start riding horseback every day. In order to look like you're riding poorly, you've gotta ride pretty well as a base. Which I can do, but I don't ride much anymore. I broke six ribs before one Western, and the next one I did, I bought a horse a year in advance to get ready. But with this, I'll just have to take it in degrees, you know? And they've got to have a good stuntman; when I hit the ground rolling, he'll know how to do that. But you know, when the time comes... I can't really start preparing for it until it's greenlit. Until it's really greenlit.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Just Withnail

Duvall really does have a fantastic way of talking.

Quote from: Robert DuvallYou know, with dwarfs on the ground and everything.

MacGuffin

Gilliam's Don Quixote Bags Ewan McGregor
Excl: He'll star alongside Robert Duvall
Source: Empire Online

Good news! We bumped into the great Terry Gilliam last night at a party in Cannes for the Doha Film Institute, and he revealed to us exclusively that Ewan McGregor has joined the cast of his long-delayed film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

McGregor will take on the role that Johnny Depp had been set to play in the original, aborted version back in 2000. Depp had still been attached to the role for this version, but with Pirates Of The Caribbean 4 eating into his schedule, and a September start date looming for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Gilliam has clearly decided to go with McGregor instead.

McGregor will play, if the current version remains faithful to the original attempt, a 21st century advertising executive who travels back in time to 17th century Spain, where he meets Don Quixote and becomes involved in adventures with him. Robert Duvall has been on board the revamped film, as Quixote, for some time, replacing Jean Rochefort. But the addition of McGregor is brand new.

"Robert Duvall is one of the greats, no question - and he can ride a horse!" laughed Gilliam. "And Ewan has gotten better over the years. He was wonderful in The Ghost. There's a lot of colours to Ewan that he's not been showing recently and it's time for him to show them again. He's got a great sense of humour and he's a wonderful actor. He's wonderfully boyish and can be charming - when he flashes a smile, everybody melts. He wields it like a nuclear bomb!"

Gilliam also revealed that the budget of the movie will be around the $20 million mark, a far cry from the $35 million he had to play with in 2000.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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polkablues

Quote from: MacGuffin on May 17, 2010, 06:28:42 PM
"And Ewan has gotten better over the years. He was wonderful in The Ghost."

Not to mention Fish, Moulin, and, of course, his breakthrough role in Trains.
My house, my rules, my coffee

MacGuffin

Watch: The Fellini-Esque Trailer For Terry Gilliam's Short Film 'The Wholly Family'
Source: The Playlist

While Terry Gilliam has struggled to get a new feature film mounted since 2009's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," that's hardly stopped the ever busy director. Last year he directed a webcast for Arcade Fire, and this year he launched his excellent stage show of "The Damnation Of Faust" and sandwiched in between, he shot the short film "The Wholly Family." The film is being sponsored by pasta company Garofalo as part of an annual series of films about Naples, and while details of what it's about have been kept under wraps, the project does have an original script by Gilliam and is not based off the Eve Merriam poem of the same name. The project stars Cristiana Capotondi, Douglas Dean, Nicolas Connolly and Sergio Solli and was shot on location in Italy but this just isn't some travelogue/pasta ad. A trailer for the film—which you can view below—quietly hit the web a couple of weeks ago and it looks like something conjured up Frederico Fellini. And if you're scared of clowns, this thing will give you nightmares. But it definitely looks very much in Gilliam's playful, fairy tale inspired vein. You can also check out a longer behind-the-scenes video over at the official website. No word on when the short will finally land—if you're in Italy you can watch it on the Garofalo website—but hopefully it will arrive soon. Anyway, check out the roughly Google translated synopsis and trailer below. A busy street in central Naples is full of shops selling nativity scenes. A wealthy American couple and a child of 10 years trying to make his way through the crowd. Husband and wife argue over which way to go. The Kid being dragged unwillingly. The child lags behind, attracted by the carved figures. Figure of Pulcinella ... sacred images, cribs, horns ... Little Jack stops at a stall, hooked on all these extraordinary figures. He touches recklessly and spitefully, behaving like a true rude brat. While husband and wife discuss animatedly realize that the child is no longer there. They began a desperate search blaming each other for the incident. But the baby is not ... So begins "The Wholly Family," a dreamlike journey between reality and imagination through the most hidden and symbols of a Naples that the director knows how to read and decode the most of its contradictions.


"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Terry Gilliam on 'Don Quixote': I Would Say "Fuck This, Except It's The Best Script I've Got"
Is Robert Duvall Out?
Source: Playlist

While recent years haven't been kind to filmmaker Terry Gilliam or his art, we love the dude (no, really) because he's a maverick and he's very outspoken. He has seen a lot of ups and downs since 2002's "Lost in La Mancha" which documented his heartbreaking attempt at getting his "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" film off the ground to disastrous results and it almost seems like that period marks a before and after stage in his work.

Gilliam's trajectory has been Sisyphean of late, but you must hand it to the man who just keeps plugging away and forging ahead. While, one quick perspective so far of his new short, "The Wholly Family" is unfortunately not very good, perhaps there's light at the end of the tunnel. Our review of his opera "The Damnation of Faust" was positively glowing. We called it a "return to form and then some." Not too shabby. Anyhow, a Persol "Magnificent Obsessions" exhibit was on display at New York's Center 548 this weekend and Vulture caught up with the always frank, always chatty and always magnificently obsessed Gilliam, who gave a small update on 'Don Quixote.' The quick take away: his dogged determination has not been eroded by the project's ongoing obstacles. As we all know, financing fell through on "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" last year even with Ewan McGregor and Robert Duvall set to star in the roles already inhabited by Johnny Depp and Jean Rochefort.

"We had almost all of it together last year and then it fizzed out," Gilliam told the New York Magazine blog about what happened. "What's happening with money is there's a number that's the wrong number, and we're at that number —$25 million, that's just the wrong number. But it'll work out. We just keep looking at different places to shoot, checking out Argentina, see if that's less money. I don't think in the States. I think most of the money is going to come from elsewhere. They want to give people $200 million to make the same film. Or they give them $5 million to do something interesting." Will any of the actors stick around? He makes some comments that suggest Duvall's salary puts him out of range and he admits while he's wanted to toss his hands in the air and walk away from this film, there's a very good reason why he hasn't abandoned it. "Duvall is a great actor, but he's not there for that kind of money, so you're looking for other combinations," he said. "Strange enough, I'm actually quite tired of the whole thing. It's been going on for so long, there's a side of me that's like, 'Fuck this.' Except it's still the best script that I've got." What about other projects he's got like the "Defective Detective." Well, it could be made... if you have an extra tentpole budget lying around in your back pocket that you can lend him. "That's [a] great [project], if you've got $100 million," he laughed. "And we've been running around trying to resuscitate that little baby. And if I can't get the money for the $25 million thing, I can try for this, and people in Hollywood will say, "Can you do it for $50 [million]?" "Can you do it for $20 [million]?" And you realize, there are idiots out there. How many people in Hollywood just have no idea how films are made? What's involved in making a film? That's the one thing that always assuages me: No matter how dumb my thing, there's always one that's dumber." Love it. Well, considering everyone just assumes she's just throwing money away, paging Megan Ellison?
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: MacGuffin on June 22, 2011, 09:44:52 AMfinancing fell through on "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" last year even with Ewan McGregor and Robert Duvall set to star in the roles already inhabited by Johnny Depp and Jean Rochefort.

He wants two actors playing each role?  No wonder the financing fell through.

MacGuffin

Terry Gilliam on 'Dark Knight,' 'Tintin' and 'Transformers'
Source: Los Angeles Times

We're still hearing a lot of response to our biggest article this week, "Terry Gilliam: The heir of Fellini and the enemy of God?," but the story isn't quite done yet.

Gilliam, the director of "Brazil" and "Twelve Monkeys," is a man of fiery opinions and during our two interviews (covering three hours and spread over two days) he lobbed a few Molotov cocktails in different directions. So, with quotes that didn't make it into that first article, we bring you the World According to Gilliam:

* On "Transformers: Dark of the Moon": "The latest 'Transformers' movie was on the plane coming over to Los Angeles. It's horrible and there's all these phallic things going on. I just couldn't even deal with it. C'mon, leave some room for me, as the audience. The audience is totally excluded, you just sit there and watch the explosions. I couldn't tell you what the movie was about. A lot of the audience is happy not to get involved. They've been working some [awful] job all day long and you just want to go out to a movie. That's fine, that's great. But I prefer something that catches you off guard and makes you think and feel and walk out different from when you came in...with 'Transformers,' with the building falling down and everything, there are great images but how can people slide down a crashing building without consequence, without physics? It's just numbing. The movie hammers the audience into submission. They are influenced by video games but in video games at least you are immersed, in these movies you're left out. And in the movies, humans are only there to fall and run around and, somehow, go through windows without getting cut to shreds."

* On Hollywood scores: "John Williams is a great musician but, wow, enough John. It isn't his choice, of course, it's the directors who allow him to take over a film and tell you exactly what you should be feeling every second of every minute of the film. I want people to come out with very different ideas of what the film is so they are real participants in the film as opposed to just paying observers. Most films now won't let you in."


* On "The Adventures of Tintin": "I don't want to pick on certain films but it's opened in Europe and I've seen it and it's also relentless. Unrelenting. Can you just slow down for a moment? There is no arc of the character for once, at least, it's just, 'Let's go, let's go, let's go, and now get ready for the sequel.' Technically, it's phenomenal. The chase scene is extraordinary but it's strange that everyone is excited that it's a single camera move but, um, it's an animated film!  Big deal. I read one article that said that they had to put several Tintin stories in there to pack it out. But actually you didn't. Just tell one and slow down a bit and let people breathe. I think there's an insecurity because it's not even a roller coaster anymore; because at least a roller coaster slows down at some point and has dips and tension."

* On Steven Spielberg and James Cameron: "I always wanted to do more with the camera when I was younger. When I first started seeing stuff that Spielberg was doing I remember thinking, 'God, how does he move the camera like that?' That's brilliant.' And even Jim Cameron, too, I was so envious of that stuff. I know I can't do it. I don't have the money to do it. And I don't actually quite have the skills. The closest I ever got was stealing the tracking shots from 'Paths of Glory' for 'Brazil.' All those tracking shots of Kirk Douglas in the trenches, that's where I got it from. Those were the most elaborate shots I ever did. My stuff is really old, classical [stuff]. There's a wide shot, a mid-shot and a close. [Instead] it's about using juxtaposition or you counter something and let the ironies float through. To me it's always been about the ideas. It's not the technical skill because I've been limited in that."      

* On digital effects: "They are a Damocles sword. Any of this stuff you use is just a tool but there's this rush now for photorealism and it bothers me. There's so much overt fantasy now that I don't watch a lot of the films because everything is possible now. There's no tension there. Where's the tension? Is it possible? Will you succeed? Will gravity take over? None of those things are part of the equation anymore. The denial of reality and consequence was fun when these movies began but now it's been 20 years of this stuff. I keep waiting for the public to get fed up with it but then I worry that now it's been here so long the audience is trained that this is what movies are meant to be."

* On Christopher Nolan and "The Dark Knight": "The car chase stuff in 'Dark Knight' is a video game; it is shot-for-shot, as you would get it in a video game like Grand Theft Auto. He's got a weird balance; he understands all of that – the energy of it – so he chooses to put it in there yet he's also a very intelligent filmmaker who can do all sorts of things. He's incredibly good. With 'Inception,' I wondered why all of the dreams were action movies. Don't people have other dreams? And what's interesting about the films are they are asexual. Maybe that's the problem. Women can represent danger in them but no one seems to be having sex in these movies. In society overall, we have all this porn, 24 hours a day, so everyone can [masturbate] but I wonder is anyone having real sex anymore? I ask myself these questions."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Toronto: Christoph Waltz Starring In Terry Gilliam's 'The Zero Theorem;' Voltage Selling
BY MIKE FLEMING | Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Christoph Waltz has been set to star in The Zero Theorem, the next film to be directed by Terry Gilliam. Waltz will play Qohen Leth, an eccentric and reclusive computer genius plagued with existential angst who works on a mysterious project aimed at discovering the purpose of existence—or the lack thereof—once and for all.

It will be the next film for Waltz, who, after winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Inglourious Basterds, has been shooting Tarantino's follow up, Django Unchained.

Scripted by Pat Rushin, The Zero Theorem is set in a world that seems right in Gilliam's wheelhouse. Living in an Orwellian corporate world where "mancams" serve as the eyes of a shadowy figure known only as Management, Leth (Waltz) works on a solution to the strange theorem while living as a virtual cloistered monk in his home—the shattered interior of a fire-damaged chapel. His isolation and work are interrupted now and then by surprise visits from Bainsley, a flamboyantly lusty love interest who tempts him with "tantric biotelemetric interfacing" (virtual sex) and Bob. Latter is the rebellious whiz-kid teenage son of Management who, with a combination of insult-comedy and an evolving true friendship, spurs on Qohen's efforts at solving the theorem. But these visits turn out to be intentional diversions orchestrated by Management to keep control of Qohen's progress. Bob creates a virtual reality "inner-space" suit that will carry Qohen on an inward voyage, a close encounter with the hidden dimensions and truth of his own soul, wherein lie the answers both he and Management are seeking. The suit and supporting computer technology will perform an inventory of Qohen's soul, either proving or disproving the Zero Theorem.

The has already started pre-production in Romania, and the European production will start shooting at Mediapro Studios on October 22nd. Dean Zanuck (Road to Perdition, Get Low) is producing and Waltz will also co-produce. Dean Zanuck will see to fruition a project that was started by his late father, the iconic Richard Zanuck. Voltage Pictures will handle worldwide sales in Toronto. Waltz is repped by ICM Partners and Gilliam by London-based Jenne Casarotto.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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wilder

Terry Gilliam's Amazon Deal Is For U.S. Release Of 'Don Quixote' & Possibly A 'Defective Detective' Mini-Series
via The Playlist

Gilliam's about to celebrate the lovingly crafted Criterion Collection release of "The Fisher King" and during The Playlist's recent conversation with the idiosyncratic filmmaker about the Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges-starring classic, he revealed his future plans.

It's abundantly clear that Gilliam is still trying to mount his long-gestating production of "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote." "It's my madness!" Gilliam laughed about the project that he cannot let go and which won't let go of him. It's had several delays over the last year few years, but if all goes according to plan, the movie will shoot in early 2016 with Jack O'Connell ("Unbroken") and John Hurt ("Only Lovers Left Alive") as the two leads. Gilliam wouldn't comment about any other casting rumors or why the film has experienced so many false starts, but revealed 'Quixote' is part of his recently-signed Amazon Studios deal.

According to Gilliam, Amazon's approach will be a theatrical window and release followed by a streaming Amazon debut at home. "I'm intrigued by their way of doing it," the director said, noting streaming services were a fair extension of home video. "They go into the cinemas first and then a month or two afterwards they go into streaming. And I think that's good because you get a chance to see it on the big screen, and yet I know that more people have seen my films on DVD than they have in the cinemas and that's the reality of life now." Amazon Studios are partly funding the film as well and the filmmaker is heartened by the rise of streaming services like Amazon and Netflix, which are willing to take risks in order to compete in the marketplace with the existing studios.

"Amazon and the like are interesting because they are all still in their formative stages," he said. "They're not a bureaucracy that has been around for years like the studio system, and so they're full of people that are open to new and fresh ideas. So it's a good time to be working with people like that."

What else might Gilliam produce through his Amazon deal? "I've got a couple other things I'm playing with," he said. "A couple of old scripts that have been wallowing within the studio system; we've got them out, so we're going to stretch them out. So what was going to become a two and a half hour movie will now become a six-eight part TV series."

Might that be "Defective Detective," an old Gilliam screenplay co-authored with "Fisher King" screenwriter Richard LaGravenese that the filmmaker has said several times would benefit from a mini-series like expansion of the narrative? "It could well be!" Gilliam said with emphasis and long cackle that essentially confirms the news for anyone who's listened to his long form ideas for "Defective Detective" in recent years (in this Happy/Sad confused podcast from last year, Gilliam said transforming "Defective Detective" into a long form mini-series was his exact wish for the project).

Gilliam said the long-form mini-series methodology was a great new format to get him excited about old projects that have sat  dormant for several years. "Many of my films I've had to compress them more than I would have liked," he explained. "So things like 'Defective Detective' and 'Quixote,' they've all been sitting around for quite a long time and to me the trick is a way of invigorating me about them so they still have a life."

wilder

It's hilarious going through this thread seeing how many times the can has been kicked down the road

Quote from: MacGuffin / Oct 6, 2003 on October 06, 2003, 10:08:56 AM
Andrew Davis to Rescue Don Quixote?

Quote from: MacGuffin / Aug 11, 2005 on August 11, 2005, 10:57:56 PM
Gilliam Returning to La Mancha

Quote from: MacGuffin / Nov 9, 2005 on November 09, 2005, 08:33:59 PM
Terry Gilliam hopes to resume shooting Don Quixote

Quote from: MacGuffin / July 13, 2006 on July 13, 2006, 03:52:58 PM
Oh No! Johnny Depp No Longer Willing, Able And Available For Long Awaited Terry Gilliam Film

Quote from: MacGuffin / Oct 4, 2006 on October 04, 2006, 06:56:22 PM
Quixote Resurrected

Quote from: MacGuffin / Jan 4, 2008 on January 04, 2008, 01:34:07 PM
Gilliam Says He Will Make Don Quixote

Quote from: MacGuffin / Aug 4, 2008 on August 04, 2008, 03:54:21 PM
Pandora: Don Quixote rides again, says delighted Gilliam

Quote from: MacGuffin / Jan 19, 2009 on January 19, 2009, 03:03:43 PM
Gilliam Back To Work On Don Quixote

Quote from: MacGuffin / May 14, 2009 on May 14, 2009, 02:21:02 PM
Gilliam gives 'Quixote' another try

Quote from: MacGuffin / July 2, 2009 on July 02, 2009, 12:19:22 AM
Terry Gilliam May Do 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' Without Johnny Depp, Pass On 'Zero Theorem' Completely

Quote from: Gold Trumpet / Dec 3, 2009 on December 03, 2009, 10:28:21 AMRobert Duvall as Don Quixote?

Quote from: MacGuffin / April 15, 2010 on April 15, 2010, 12:50:47 PM
Terry Gilliam To Make Opera Debut In London, 'Man Who Killed Don Quixote' To Shoot This Summer?

Quote from: MacGuffin / April 26, 2010 on April 26, 2010, 05:34:53 PM
EXCLUSIVE: Robert Duvall on What's Holding Up Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote Now

Quote from: MacGuffin / May 17, 2010 on May 17, 2010, 06:28:42 PM
Gilliam's Don Quixote Bags Ewan McGregor

Quote from: MacGuffin / June 22, 2011 on June 22, 2011, 09:44:52 AM
Terry Gilliam on 'Don Quixote': I Would Say "Fuck This, Except It's The Best Script I've Got"

Quote from: wilder / June 9, 2015 on June 09, 2015, 02:23:26 PM
Terry Gilliam's Amazon Deal Is For U.S. Release Of 'Don Quixote' & Possibly A 'Defective Detective' Mini-Series


Terry Gilliam Now Says 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' Will Start Shooting In September
via The Playlist

You should know the long version of the story by now, but here's the short one: Terry Gilliam has been trying to make "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," but has been continually thwarted by disaster, delays, and other bumps in the road. But ever optimistic and hopeful, the director has been promising the picture will get made, though his various intended start dates tend to fall through. For example, last fall he said the picture, now backed by Amazon, would shoot in April. However, it looks like that won't be happening, and he now has a new start in mind.

Speaking with The List at an event celebrating the work of Cervantes in Edinburgh, Gilliam shared his next proposed timeframe for the 'Quixote.'

"I always believe I'm going to get it off the ground and we're going to be shooting in September. That's what I believe, the reality may be different," he stated.

wilder

Adam Driver Joins Terry Gilliam's 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' & Steven Soderbergh's 'Logan Lucky'
via The Playlist

Screen Daily reports that Adam Driver and Michael Palin have signed on in the lead roles for the movie, replacing the previously attached Jack O'Connell and John Hurt. Production is now aiming to begin this fall. Flick Reel has posted a supposed synopsis of the movie:

There was a time when Toby was a young film student full of ideals. So he decided to shoot a film adapted from the story of Don Quixote in a pretty Spanish village.

But those days are gone and now Toby is an arrogant publicist, libidinous and jaded. Money and glitter have corrupted him, and while he is in Spain where he finishes filming an ad, he has to juggle with his boss's wife – Jacqui – a calamitous weather, and his own ego. This is when a mysterious gypsy comes to find him with an old copy of his student film: Toby is upset and decides to go in search of a little village where he had made his first work a long time ago. He discovers with horror that his little film has had terrible effects on this quiet place. Angelica, the girl full of innocence, became a high-class call girl; and the old man who played Don Quixote lost his mind, convinced in his delusion of being the real "Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance."

A series of incidents lead to a fire that threatens to destroy the village. Wanted by the police, Toby is "saved" by the old fool who takes him for his faithful squire Sancho, and drives on the roads in search of his perfect wife, Dulcinea.

During this journey, Toby will face demons, real and imaginary, modern and medieval. Damsels will be saved, jousts will be completed, and giants will be killed! Reality and fantasy merge in this strange journey, until a spooky ending.

wilder

Hallelujah: Terry Gilliam Has Wrapped Filming On 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'
via The Playlist

After years of tilting windmills, nearly killing himself and possibly making him go utterly mad in the process, filmmaker Terry Gilliam has finally wrapped production on his long, long, long in-the-works, elusive, holy grail project of "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote."

"Sorry for the long silence. I've been busy packing the truck and am now heading home" he wrote on Facebook today. "After 17 years, we have completed the shoot of THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE. Muchas gracias to all the team and believers. QUIXOTE VIVE!"

"The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" stars Adam Driver as the main character Toby, Jonathan Pryce as Don Quixote himself and includes Olga Kurylenko and Stellan Skarsgård among many local actors from the shoot in Spain.

The once ill-fated 'Don Quixote' had been the albatross around Gilliam's neck for more than a decade. As his Facebook post notes, Gilliam had been trying to make the film for 17 years and the disastrous initial production starring Johnny Depp was painfully chronicled in the warts-and-all-documentary "Lost In La Mancha" in 2002.

Over the years several incarnations almost came to fruition that starred the likes of Robert Duvall, Ewan McGregor and John Hurt. Funding always seemed to collapse at the last minute and even this current version, funded by the cash-heavy Amazon studios, had its issues too. But finally, 'Quixote's shoot has finished and now Gilliam will go into post-production. The director, presumably, is in no rush and wants to get it right. Hopefully we'll see the picture sometime in 2018, but who knows.

jenkins