It seems financing for Terry Gilliam’s long gestating Don Quixote film may have fallen through once again.
Speaking at the Deauville American Film Festival on Saturday, Terry Gilliam was quoted by Variety as saying,
“The financing collapsed about a month and a half ago […] I shouldn’t be here. The plan was to be shooting [The Man Who Killed Don] Quixote right now.”
It’s not the first time financing has fallen through. In 2000, when filming was underway, Jean Rochefort was seriously injured during a freak storm, eventually leading to production being cancelled in the November of that year when it was made clear that Rochefort would be unable to return.
In 2008, Gilliam re-started production on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, this time with Rubert Duvall in the role of Dox Quixote, with Ewan McGregor also being added to the cast. Filming was expected to commence during the summer of 2010 but, as financing has now collapsed again, production has, once again, been shut down.
Gilliam, though, refuses to believe “the curse of Don Quixote”, and remains hopeful that the film will eventually see the light of day. He was quoted as saying, “Robert Duvall is Quixote, Ewan McGregor is also there, and we are looking for new financing right now […] Don Quixote gives me something to look forward to, always. Maybe the most frightening thing is to actually make the film.”
If the project does make it to the big screen, expect it to focus on an advertising executive (possibly McGregor) who jumps back and forth in time between 21st century London and 17th century La Mancha, where Don Quixote (Duvall) mistakes him for Sancho Panza.
