It’s been a hot-minute since we’ve had a film from writer/director Terry Gilliam (“Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas”) but while he was zeroing on a new project to film this year, he’s going to have to do script rewrites and is still struggling to get it made despite a high-profile group of actors being involved.
During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the veteran filmmaker revealed that the return of President Donald Trump to the White House has “f***ed up” and “killed” his gestating movie, “The Carnival At The End of Days.” A biblical satire that’ll undergo extensive rewrites as it was going to comment on events over the last couple of years, and likely has put a wrench into those plans.
READ MORE: 12 Films To See In July: ‘Superman,’ ‘Eddington,’ ‘Fantastic Four & More
“Well, he’s f***ed up the latest film I was working on. Because it was a satire about the last several years when things were going as they were. He’s turned it upside down. So he’s killed my movie…I think I’ve got to rewrite a lot of it. I’m still trying to decide how to approach that,” Gilliam said of the status of his next feature effort, funny enough, after talking about the death of comedy and satire out of fear, blaming “wokeness” for some of that. Despite Trump being cited as the reason for making things complicated for Gilliam’s comedic project, and these rewrites.
Terry Gilliam went on to confirm the cast of “Carnival” and expanded upon it by revealing who is playing God and Satan, in the pic, “Yes, if we ever make it. Jeff Bridges is the voice of God. Johnny Depp is playing Satan. So the cast is rather good. Adam Driver, Jason Momoa, Asa Butterfield, Emma Laird, and Tom Waits. You’d think everybody would be rushing forward to give me all the money I need. It’s not as easy as that.”
Lastly, the director revealed the directing advice he gave a young Quentin Tarantino after reading his “Reservoir Dogs” script at the Sundance Film Festival back in the early 1990s, as seasoned filmmakers at the event would attempt to help mentor newcomers by giving advice or notes on scripts.
“I was there with Volker Schlöndorff and Stanley Donen. All three of us read the script for ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ and I was blown away by it. I thought, ‘Fuck, this is wonderful and extraordinary.’ Stanley and Volker, it made no sense to them. And the previous group before us had been very negative on Quentin as well. I said, ‘I think your work is wonderful. It’s a great script.’ And I said, ‘Here’s how you direct. Be very clear about what you’re trying to do. Then you surround yourself with really good people, and then you listen to them.'”
Of course, this isn’t new territory for Terry Gilliam, having spent ages trying to get his movie, “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” made after a disastrous first attempt when Depp was in the lead role. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that he’s able to get “Carnival” together even with these latest hiccups.
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://theplaylist.net/terry-gilliam-trump-carnival-at-the-end-of-days-quentin-tarantino-20250709/&media=https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/09113339/CARNIVAL-AT-THE-END-OF-DAYS_TERRY-GILLIAM_BLAMES-TRUMP_FOR-PRODUCTION-HEADACHES_.jpg&description=Terry Gilliam says Donald Trump's return to White House "killed" his film 'Carnival At The End of Days' which is undergoing rewrites.){kind=link}