It seems it’s always one step forward, two steps back when it comes to Terry Gilliam‘s forever developing, seemingly eternally cursed "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote." We won’t bore you with the history of this project, except to say that in recent months, it had looked like things were coming together for a shoot in 2015. And while that might still happen, it seems there are still a few issues to be ironed out.
Catching up with Rolling Stone, the amiable director revealed ‘Quixote’ had hit another bump in the road, but is still on his slate. "That is my plan, but plans have nothing to do with reality [laughs]. We shall see what happens," he said. "I really can’t say anything at the moment, because there’s been a little hiccup — once again. The Sisyphean rock that keeps rolling back. Just as we almost get to the top of the mountain…. We’ll see what happens. I’m not a happy camper at the moment [laughs]."
And despite carrying this project around for over a decade, Gilliam isn’t quite ready to give up on it. "I’m beginning to actually think, ‘If it doesn’t work this time, I’m gonna dump it.’ I’ve wasted far too much of my life doing it. If you’re going to do Quixote, you have to become as mad as Quixote," he stated, adding: "I’ve wasted how many years? Fifteen? Yeah, there’s a certain point. It’s kind of the determination to be crazy and unreasonable. Every intelligent person around me says, ‘Walk away from it.’ But those are reasonable people [laughs]."
So what’s the problem? It would appear to be casting. "…we’ve been tripped up as of a week ago. The choice is whether we stay with a particular actor or start looking for another. We’ll see where it goes," he told Twitch.
But at the very least, he does have a leading man. With the latest iteration once set to be led by Robert Duvall, earlier this year it looked like John Hurt would be stepping in, and the actor recently confirmed his participation during an appearance at the Barbican in London for Nick Cave‘s "20,000 Days On Earth." "I am doing the Don Quixote film with Terry Gilliam next year and I’m also in a television 6-part serial piece. That’s about it, really," he said (via Supa Jam). No word on what that latter project is, but at least Gilliam can count on Hurt.
But, until we know more, check out Gilliam’s recent Q&A session at the Apple Store in New York City below.