The Man Who Killed Don Quixote should really have been made in 2000. Work on it was well underway until a spate of accidents and mishaps forced director Terry Gilliam to abandon it. But that wasn’t the end of the project, and Gilliam made known his intention to start work on the film once more in August 2008.
January 2009 saw Gilliam stay true to his word and start rewriting the script. Clearly not a man to look a gift horse in the mouth, Gilliam claimed the seven-year break between the first attempt at making the movie and the second could actually be a blessing in disguise due to it having matured in that time.
The only question remaining was whether Johnny Depp, the original star of the movie, would be back for the second attempt. That question remains but Gilliam has confirmed that although Depp remains the number one choice for the role, the film will be happening with or without him.
He told MTV Movies:
“I’m about to sit down this evening with Tony Grisoni and see if all the bits we’ve been doing in this last couple of weeks are enough to keep us happy and say that’s it. Basically, we are pretty much there on the script and then Jeremy Thomas and I have been moving ahead on different deals.”
“Neither Jeremy nor myself feel we can wait until Johnny’s available. Nevertheless, he gets first choice, and we’ll see if anything changes on his dance card.”
Gilliam maintains shooting on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote will begin in 2010, and his recent decision to pull the plug on The Zero Theorem makes this possible. Which means Depp is unlikely to appear this time around because his current schedule is pretty packed. And that’s a shame for a project that has already has more than its fair share of disappointments.
I just hope, whoever ends up starring, this film is worth the wait, money, and effort Gilliam and others have poured into it.
