Could it actually, really be happening? We’ve learned over the years to take any news about Terry Gilliam‘s “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” with a box load of salt, but it seems the stars are finally aligning for the director’s forever brewing, continually cursed project. Adam Driver and Michael Palin are now slated to star, with Olga Kurylenko recently joining the movie as well, and Gilliam along with producer Paolo Branco hit the Cannes Film Festival to talk about the project.
Gilliam’s enthusiasm certainly hasn’t abated for the movie, as he excitedly talks about the shoot that will begin on October 11th and wrap up before the year is out. And moreover, he credits the post-“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” fame of Driver in helping the movie get made.
“It’s a funny thing. Along the way there have been so many versions of this story in my mind, and it changes with each cast,” he said. “Finally we have the perfect cast. Driver is the guy I’ve been looking for all these years. Thank God for ‘Star Wars,’ Adam Driver is bankable!”
The director also revealed that Alberto Iglesias (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Skin I Live In“) will be providing the score, with movie taking place entirely in the 21st century. How? Will the meta-narrative will center on an advertising agency executive who receives a copy of the student film he made about Don Quixote, only to learn that the movie had a terrible impact on the cast members and village where he shot the movie, leading him on another epic journey.
Coupled with a budget of €17 million, it sounds like this might be the most lavish movie in years from the filmmaker. But as always, keeps your fingers crossed until cameras roll… and maybe until production wraps as well. And if all goes well, Gilliam is hoping to be at Cannes next year to premiere the movie.
Watch the full press conference above. [via Flickreel]
Check out the rest of our coverage from the 2016 Cannes Film Festival by clicking here.
