Post by ~nickidepphead~ on Jan 9, 2009 13:35:10 GMT
With Doctor Parnassus now slated for a 2009 release, Gilliam has begun digging around for his next project. With his popular surrealistic style bringing immediate kudos to any production he is associated with, rumours are never far away.
Gilliam has confirmed that his Don Quixote biopic is back on. However, some would question the director’s willingness to reopen old wounds.
He first tried to shoot the movie in 2000, with Depp staring alongside the French actor Jean Rochefort (cast for the title role). However, production stopped within a week due to an eerie series of mishaps, which were witnessed by a film crew and led to the 2002 documentary Lost in La Mancha.
Military flyovers drowned out the dialogue, flash floods washed away the set and Rochefort was eventually hospitalised for a double hernia, putting the final nail in the coffin.
The actor, who had spent seven months learning English for the title role, had to be helped off his horse by three men before being airlifted to hospital in Paris. Lost in La Mancha presented Gilliam’s perilous quest to make the movie as a parallel to Quixote’s fictional quest to become a hero.
After production ceased, an insurance claim was filed on behalf of the film’s numerous investors. A sum of $15m (Dh55m) was reportedly paid, and the rights to the screenplay passed on to the insurance companies. Until now.
“The producer Jeremy Thomas has got the rights back and I am going to start doing rewrites after the Christmas season. I hadn’t read the script in seven years. It’s been tied up in legal things. When I got it back I decided I needed to do some work to get the thing up and running.”
Gilliam also says he plans to re-enlist Depp, who has become one of Hollywood’s biggest draws in the intervening years.
“When Johnny will be ready to do it is the unknown quantity. He’s a busy boy these days.”
With Rochefort, now 78, unlikely to jump back into the saddle, rumours have been circulating that Gilliam would cast his fellow Python alumnus Michael Palin for the title role.
The actor-turned-travel-broadcaster has appeared in several projects by the director, who is well known for using recurring actors. As well as all of the Pythons, actors including Depp, Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges have appeared in more than one Gilliam project. However, the filmmaker said expectations of a mini-Python reunion in Quixote are baseless.
“I don’t know where the rumour that Michael was going to play Don Quixote came from,” Gilliam says. “He’s not quite the right shape and he’s not old enough. Mike is wonderful but he’s not quite Quixote.
“There’s so much nonsense whenever I go on the web. Where does this stuff come from? I don’t even care about denying it half the time because it at least makes me sound interesting,” he laughs.
In addition to the movie’s on-set problems, financing for the cancelled 2000 version was also a disaster. As the director approached a number of European financiers for the project rather than Hollywood studios, a lengthy battle of wills against aspects of European (particularly French) film-financing practices ensued.
With Quixote back afloat, there has been speculation that Gilliam’s first visit to Dubai could be about more than just awards.
The Hollywood Reporter quoted Gilliam as saying he plans to “check out (the city’s studios) attitude toward funding.”
He even suggested to the movie trade paper that Don Quixote could be filmed in Dubai, reportedly saying “at least there are mountains here”.
However, he insists that he was lured to the emirate with the promise of a free flight.
“They invited me and said, ‘first class travel’. How could I say no? I’m very curious about this place and if someone is going to pay for me to come down here, I’ll do it. It’s freezing in London and wet.”
Link to entire article: www.thenational.ae/article/20081215/ART/152371247/-1/ART
Gilliam has confirmed that his Don Quixote biopic is back on. However, some would question the director’s willingness to reopen old wounds.
He first tried to shoot the movie in 2000, with Depp staring alongside the French actor Jean Rochefort (cast for the title role). However, production stopped within a week due to an eerie series of mishaps, which were witnessed by a film crew and led to the 2002 documentary Lost in La Mancha.
Military flyovers drowned out the dialogue, flash floods washed away the set and Rochefort was eventually hospitalised for a double hernia, putting the final nail in the coffin.
The actor, who had spent seven months learning English for the title role, had to be helped off his horse by three men before being airlifted to hospital in Paris. Lost in La Mancha presented Gilliam’s perilous quest to make the movie as a parallel to Quixote’s fictional quest to become a hero.
After production ceased, an insurance claim was filed on behalf of the film’s numerous investors. A sum of $15m (Dh55m) was reportedly paid, and the rights to the screenplay passed on to the insurance companies. Until now.
“The producer Jeremy Thomas has got the rights back and I am going to start doing rewrites after the Christmas season. I hadn’t read the script in seven years. It’s been tied up in legal things. When I got it back I decided I needed to do some work to get the thing up and running.”
Gilliam also says he plans to re-enlist Depp, who has become one of Hollywood’s biggest draws in the intervening years.
“When Johnny will be ready to do it is the unknown quantity. He’s a busy boy these days.”
With Rochefort, now 78, unlikely to jump back into the saddle, rumours have been circulating that Gilliam would cast his fellow Python alumnus Michael Palin for the title role.
The actor-turned-travel-broadcaster has appeared in several projects by the director, who is well known for using recurring actors. As well as all of the Pythons, actors including Depp, Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges have appeared in more than one Gilliam project. However, the filmmaker said expectations of a mini-Python reunion in Quixote are baseless.
“I don’t know where the rumour that Michael was going to play Don Quixote came from,” Gilliam says. “He’s not quite the right shape and he’s not old enough. Mike is wonderful but he’s not quite Quixote.
“There’s so much nonsense whenever I go on the web. Where does this stuff come from? I don’t even care about denying it half the time because it at least makes me sound interesting,” he laughs.
In addition to the movie’s on-set problems, financing for the cancelled 2000 version was also a disaster. As the director approached a number of European financiers for the project rather than Hollywood studios, a lengthy battle of wills against aspects of European (particularly French) film-financing practices ensued.
With Quixote back afloat, there has been speculation that Gilliam’s first visit to Dubai could be about more than just awards.
The Hollywood Reporter quoted Gilliam as saying he plans to “check out (the city’s studios) attitude toward funding.”
He even suggested to the movie trade paper that Don Quixote could be filmed in Dubai, reportedly saying “at least there are mountains here”.
However, he insists that he was lured to the emirate with the promise of a free flight.
“They invited me and said, ‘first class travel’. How could I say no? I’m very curious about this place and if someone is going to pay for me to come down here, I’ll do it. It’s freezing in London and wet.”
Link to entire article: www.thenational.ae/article/20081215/ART/152371247/-1/ART