Gilliam Says He Will Make Don Quixote Exclusive: And Good Omens Too Source: Empire
While chatting with the quite delightful Terry Gilliam recently, Empire asked about the fate of a couple of projects that have long been on his dance card. First of these was The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, his take on Cervantes' novel about the titular Quixote, a man who reads so many fantasy books that he becomes convinced he is a knight errant and sets of for adventure with his righthand man, Sancho Panza.
The film, starring Jean Rochefort as Quixote and Johnny Depp as a man who accidentally goes back in time and is mistaken for Panza, went before cameras but suffered such a disastrous shoot that it was abandoned and became the subject of the documentary Lost In La Mancha. Gilliam says the project should now get going again.
"[Producer] Jeremy Thomas is very close to getting all the pieces of paper signed from all the people who you gotta get signed," Gilliam told us. "He’s been on it for a year now, and he’s come the closest to getting it untangled from the legal swamp it was in. And, um, I don’t see why, I don’t see anythying that’s gonna stop it now. He’s just gotta get all the paperwork done and then I call Mr Depp and see which pirate film he’s still on".
Depp is (we hope) now done with the Pirates movies and could have a space in his schedule, since The Rum Diary and Shantaram both seem to be shelved due to the writers strike. Don Quixote's script is presumably ready to go, since it was shoot-ready before. One man who won't be back is Jean Rochefort. "Physically, he can't do it," says Gilliam. "It's a real tragedy, but he can't. His arse is broken".
So that's good news, aside from the broken arse. But in other good news, Gilliam says there's also a chance that he'll make Good Omens, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's novel about an angel and demon coming together to prevent the apocalypse.
"I’m the only one who can make it, 'cos that's what Neil and Terry have said. I’m the only one", Gilliam insists. "And I thought with Neil, with Stardust and with Beowulf and there’s another one – an animated film, a Henry Selick thing he’s written [Coraline], I was thinking he’s really hot now, so maybe there’s a chance. I mean it’s such a wonderful book. And I think our script is pretty good, too. We did quite a few changes. We weren’t as respectful as we ought to have been. But Neil’s happy with it!"
Both of these have the potential for awesomeness, so fingers crossed they both happen. Or even just one of them. We're not greedy.
You're drastically behind Olly, Neil told us that, also exclusively, at the Stardust premiere. Bwaha ha ha! www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=21196 ... Read More
Oh my God!! How dare they try to move Neverwhere to the States? How will that work? Most of the characters (Angel Islington etc) are named after bloody London stations and areas (Night's Bridge - Kinghtsbridge!!). They cannot move it to the States that would be beyond ridiculous. I'm not a fan of Terry Pratchett but I love Neil Gaimen and love Good Omens so it'll be great to see it onscreen. I wonder who'll play Crawley and Aziraphale? ... Read More
Don Q will be good, no doubt, but I'm seriously worried about Good Omens. Even with Gilliam in charge it'll be hard to capture the book and FFS don't cast Russell Brand in it! In fact, don't cast russell brand in anything!! ... Read More
Its good news, Gilliam usually takes a pounding for his films but one cannot deny his capability as a director. If Good Omens gets off the ground, and Gilliam is in my opinion one of the few directors who could do Pratchett/Gaiman the justice they deserve, this will hopefully pave the way for more of their works getting silver screen treatment.
Only related thing I'm worried about is a big screen reworking of Neverwhere that I heard about, changing the setting to Amercia ofc&nbs... Read More
Very good news indeed. Gilliam is a superb director and deserves to be able to finish this project. Looking forward to seeing what he can do with a mega-talent like Depp as well. ... Read More
I always thought John Cleese would be the perfect Don Quixote. He's now the right age and has the perfect stature that the role requires. ... Read More
Please make it happen, please make it happen....................
Good Omens sounds great, and Don Quixote is a film I was waiting for, heartbroken thinking it would never. Fingers crossed. Let's hope they get made, without interferece(we all know what happened to Brothers Grimm and Brazil). ... Read More
Not gonna hold my breath for Don Quixote but Good Omens sounds ....er...good, .....a bit like Preacher or the Prophecy or something else with Angels and Demons in it! I look forward to that one.
And in my humble opinion there was nowt wrong with any of the Pirate's films, it was a very enjoyable trilogy,... it seems some people just like to moan! we all from time to time) ... Read More
