Terry Gilliam To Attempt ‘Don Quixote’ Again This Fall

Terry Gilliam’s attempt to make “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” in 1999 led to one of the most disastrous film productions in history.  One the first day of shooting, the crew discovered that the location was surrounded by constant noise from a nearby NATO aircraft target practice area.  No big deal for Gilliam since he could just perfect the sound of the film later.  On the second day of shooting, a flash flood and hail damaged the camera equipment and made the location nearly unrecognizable.  Finally, leading actor Jean Rochefort suffered from a herniated disc and was forced to pull out of filming.  This ended production completely and the rights to the film were sold to the insurance company responsible for covering the damages.  It wasn’t until several years that Gilliam would reacquire the rights to the script.  For more information on the story, the documentary “Lost in La Mancha” is a great telling of the tale of this disaster plagued production.

The Film Stage is reporting that Gilliam is planning on taking up production on “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” again this fall.  The plot of the film centers on an advertising executive who travels back in time and gets mistaken for the fictional character Sancho Panza from Cervantes’ original novel, “Don Quixote.”  Gilliam planned to cast Jean Rochefort in the role of Don Quixote and Johnny Depp was to play Toby Grisoni, the advertising executive that travels back in time.  Due to Depp’s busy schedule he will be unable to reprise the role. Gilliam confirmed that Robert Duvall will star as Don Quixote.  The role of Toby has yet to be cast though Gilliam hinted that it will not be any A-list big name star but an up and coming actor instead.

The film is slated for release in 2011.