Filmmaker and former “Monty Python” member Terry Gilliam is moving forward with his next feature film project, “The Carnival At The End of Days.” The picture is being primed for a picturesque production in Italy and has secured quite the cast for what sounds like a creative cinematic take on the biblical story about “Adam and Eve.” Gilliam co-wrote the adaptation with Christopher Brett Bailey.
The pic has landed Italian tax incentives (a promising 40% tax benefit), which means a budget has been established. And according to an interview with Notorious Pictures’ Guglielmo Marchetti (via Italian outlet Box Office Biz), the cast has added Asa Butterfield (“Sex Education”) and Emma Laird (“The Brutalist”). Previously announced cast includes Johnny Depp, Jeff Bridges (“The Old Man”), Jason Momoa (“Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow”) and Adam Driver (“Gucci”).
Much of the principal cast has worked with Gilliam before: Depp in “Fear And Loathing In Los Angeles,” Bridges in “The Fisher King,” and Driver in “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.” In previous interviews with the French press, Gilliam described the film as a comedy where God decides to destroy humanity, And the only one trying to save us is Satan.
According to previous reports, Depp is set to play Satan with Bridges, who is playing God.
“He won’t be the God we’re used to,” Gilliam told Premiere last year. “In the film, God is nature. But a nature that can speak to you. I’m going to need animation to bring it to life because in the scene with God, there are at least fifteen animals, and it’s going to be complicated because it has to be realistic. And it’s going to be very expensive, what will happen? But it’s a good scenario. It will be very funny for those who like to be offended.”
“The Carnival At The End of Days” will land money from the Italian film fund and primarily shoot interior scenes at Cinecittà Studios in Rome. Marchetti says it will employ 3,000 locals for the production. Potentially, a signal that a fair amount of sets and visual effects could occur here.
A logline from IMDB for ‘Carnival’ reads:
God, disappointed with what’s gone down on planet Earth, wants to wipe out huHumanityand the only one who wants to save them is Satan, who convinces God that two young people he’s found are the new Adam and Eve.
This news about “The Carnival At The End of Days” comes after Gilliam has struggled to get other films off the ground over his career. The filmmaker has released a feature project since “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” starring Driver in 2018. That film took decades to get made after some infamous failed attempts (Depp was once involved), which ended up being the subject of the 2002 documentary, “Lost In La Mancha.”
