While it remains to be seen if Terry Gilliam’s long-gestating “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” will get in front of cameras this year (potential star Ewan McGregor didn’t seem entirely confident about that happening), it appears the script has quietly been tinkered with and Bleeding Cool have revealed a major change to the film that could make it easier to bring to the big screen.
Originally, the film centered on Toby, an ad man who was in Spain shooting a Quixote-themed commercial when he meets someone who claims to be real Don Quixote. Then, in a Parnassian bit of whimsy, Toby is whisked away to Quixote-era Spain. However, in the latest version of the script aside from the tweaking of Toby’s character from being an ad man to a screenwriter, all the scenes between Toby and Quixote are set in the present day.
As Bleeding Cool notes, this change no longer places the film in direct competition (though, it never really was) with Joel Silver’s gestating big budget blockbuster based on the same material. However, from a financial point of view, it lowers the budget considerably for Gilliam’s film which may make it easier to attract financing. A high-concept, period-based fantasy starring Robert Duvall and Ewan McGregor probably wasn’t an enticing prospect for most financiers, however, by shaving all period costs off the project, it now makes the film a lot easier to get off the ground. From a story perspective, it allows the divide between fantasy/reality to be blurred even further.
Production is tentatively slated to start production in September, with Gilliam having scouted locations earlier this year. This one is ten years in the making and do we hope the director can finally get it front of cameras. Here’s the synopsis (of sorts) from Recorded Picture Company, of the production firms behind the film:
From the unique mind of Terry Gilliam comes his most anticipated film. A decade in the unmaking. Don Quixote leaps into life in this bold and high-spirited comedy. Don Quixote. Eternal optimist. Madman. Knight. A noble soul who never lets truth get in the way of a great story. Toby. Frustrated young filmmaker turned unwitting sidekick. Mistaken for Sancho Panza, Toby is charmed into the old man’s eternal quest for his lost lady-love. As their adventures across Spain veer from the sublime to the ridiculous, Quixote reveals himself as a delusional idealist. Yet could he be the real knight of legend? Torn between reality and fantasy, Toby must charge headlong into his own imagination. Don Quixote rides again.
