There have been endless rumours over THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE for a very, very long time…with a first draft appearing back in 1998. Since then, they’ve gone through numerous casts and continual funding problems but finally, maybe, finally Gilliam says it’s a ‘go’!
Those folks over at Empire were talking about his upcoming THE ZERO THEOREM (Check out a great short behind-the-scenes clip and the bizarre, brilliant trailer by clicking here) and they got onto the subject of the elusive Don Quixote film that’s been troubled by everything from literal injury to fighter jets getting in the way.
It’s now due to start filming late September in the Canary Islands with producer Adrián Guerra who’s been behind the likes of BURIED, RED LIGHTS and more recently GRAND PIANO – so he likes to back a smaller, interesting project it seems. When Gilliam was asked how many casts he’s had and what he thinks about the whole concept, experience and what’s next for the film, he had this to say:
[On how many casts] “I’m hoping it’s the lucky 11. We keep rewriting the script each time, too, so it’s a slightly different film each time. It’s the same film but the details change. Maybe it’s better, it’s certainly slightly smaller to fit into the new clothing we wear. …Which are cheap clothes these days.”
He continued:
“It’s obsessive… desperate… pathetic… foolish. It’s this growth, this tumour that’s become part of my system that has to get out if I’m to survive. I’ve got the opera (ENO’s Benvenuto Cellini) to get out the way first and we start rehearsals in April. That’s for June, and there’s a week between the opera opening and Python rehearsals. And then we are at the moment starting shooting Quixote in the last week of September. If it’s happening. Or not.”
So, Terry is a very busy man once again which is only a good thing, we’ll look forward to seeing whether this ever makes another jump forward but we’re definitely heading towards THE ZERO THEOREM before that, which is released in the UK on March 14th.
Source: Empire
