Terry Gilliam Drops 'Zero Theorem' With Billy Bob Thornton, Still Holds Hope For Johnny Depp On 'Don Quixote'

After the roller coaster ride that has been the publicity and marketing for “The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus,” Terry Gilliam has revealed to Dreams (an obsessive Gilliam fansite) that his previously planned film “Zero Theorem” have been canned. But it was the director himself who ankled the project.

“That was a thing that I was going to be doing this year,” the director noted. “I thought I could do it quite quickly and cheaply, and that would be a nice one, rather than getting caught in more expensive, more complicated or hard-to-finance things. But the year just got swallowed up by ‘Parnassus’ and publicity, and preparation for ‘Don Quixote.’ I just didn’t think it would be viable and I pulled the plug earlier this year.”

“Zero Theorem” was set to star Billy Bob Thornton as a reclusive ‘cubicle zombie’ who juggles a top secret project involving an unsolvable theorem, a relationship with a gorgeous woman, a friendship with a young rebellious whizkid and questions of his own existence and piece of mind. Shooting had originally been planned to begin in May.

Gilliam also seemingly still holds hope for Johnny Depp returning to “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.” Despite Depp having publicly expressing a distinct lack of interest and even questioning Gilliam’s own return to the ill-fated project, Gilliam admitted: “Johnny gets first dibs on the thing. I think he is just tied up with too many big projects that he is locked himself into. Neither [producer] Jeremy Thomas nor myself feel we can wait until Johnny’s available. Nevertheless, he gets first choice, and we’ll see if anything changes on his dance card.”

Hmm, that still smells like a no. How about working with Jude Law since he was the first pick for ‘Imaginarium’ before Heath Ledger took the role. And or Colin Farrell who seems to be back on track.

The spectacular failure of the original attempt to shoot ‘Don Quxiote,’ was infamously documented in “Lost In La Mancha,” but Gilliam insists a lot has changed since then. “We’ve done quite a rewrite on the thing, and it’s not quite the same project it was. The character is basically more rounded. I’ve changed his story, the character of the Man Who Kills. And Don Quixote himself has been changed. Events are the same, but the reasons the events occur are now different, if that’s understandable!”

Before all that though, Gilliam’s latest film “The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus” is still seeking U.S. distribution and will be making an appearance at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. [/Film]