Gilliam Confirms Johnny Depp's 'Don Quixote' Return

These are heady days indeed for Terry Gilliam. Over the past decade, Gilliam's career has been beset by projects going belly up or arriving DOA according to critics and audiences. But his Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus has been fairly well received at Cannes, which is all it needed thanks to being the last screen performance by Heath Ledger, and he recently said the funding has come together for him to return to La Mancha. Yes, his The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was stopped back in 2000, but Gilliam had to abandon the project following a freak storm that ruined some equipment and co-star Jean Rochefort got sick. But re-launching the project wasn't just as easy as returning in a few years; Gilliam first had to win the rights back from an insurance company that wrested it away on behalf of the investors following the first failed attempt to make it. And this week, Gilliam told reporters that he has reached an agreement for Johnny Depp to return to the film. Now, ten years ago, that wouldn't have mattered very much to a movie. Depp was about as bankable as General Motors until Pirates of the Caribbean, but it's a much different story these days. With Depp on board and with another shot to make Don Quixote, I have a feeling that Gilliam won't miss this time around. And so does he: "The seven or eight years in the interim made me a bit more distant, more objective about what was wrong with the film and what was right with the film. So, hopefully, we've got it right this time." Adds the director, "I've always said, once you take on Quixote, you better finish the job, otherwise he finishes you."

Comments

[Lengthy Johnson]

Terry Gilliam is one of those film makers who are quite simply too far ahead of his audience.

In a few decades, when his career is finished, people will catch up and he will be celebrated as one of the greats, no doubt.

In a time when studio-friendly directors are making more and more forgettable movies, Gilliam stands out as one of the most original, uncompromising and possibly quixotic auteurs.

Don Quixote by Gilliam promises to be something special.

[Vince]

Oh great point Lengthy, I agree Gilliam is so beyond audiences that it'll take a few years for them to actually understand and appreciate his work.

I'm really, really excited to hear this. I saw the film "Man of La Mancha", the documentary that showed how this film completely crapped out due to unfortunate circumstances, and I felt that had it been made, it would've been an excellent film (or at the very least, an interesting take on a well-known character). Take however long you want this time Gilliam...just make sure that you bring a great film back with you.

[Vince]

Sorry, the title of the documentary I referenced was "Lost in La Mancha"- it's a solid watch, rent it if you're interested in how NOT to make a movie.

[Lengthy Johnson]

Yep, the irony is that in Lost in La Mancha, Gilliam was so distraught because he said he had the whole film finished in his head and new exactly how it would look, frame by frame.

Now he says he's glad the first production went down as he had it all wrong.

We need more ceazy people like this making movies. It's expensive, it's maddening for the studios but it's good fun to watch.

Don Quixote should be no problem for Gilliam. The Fisher King was a kind of light version of Don Quixote.