‘Curse of Quixote’ continues despite a date at Cannes

Terry Gilliam’s 30-year quest is over, but he suffers a stroke and Amazon pulls out of distribution deal

IT HAS been described as “one of the most famous films never made”, a reworking of Don Quixote so beset by disaster that it has remained unfinished for nearly 30 years.

Finally, there is good news for its director, Terry Gilliam. A court in Paris ruled yesterday that The Man Who Killed Don Quixote will see the light of day with a world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

A former producer had attempted to block the release, but a judge threw out his case. However, what some refer to as “the curse of Don Quixote” is still in evidence.

On the eve of the court judgment, it emerged that Gilliam, 77, had suffered a minor stroke.

And on the same day, Amazon announced that it had pulled out of a deal to distribute the film, raising questions over its future.

Still, Gilliam, right, was in celebratory mood last night. He tweeted: “After days of rest and prayers to the gods I am restored and well again.

“So is The Man Who Killed Don Quixote! We are legally victorious! We will go to the ball, dressed as the closing film at Festival de Cannes.”

Cannes organisers confirmed that the film would be screened on May 19, adding: “Terry Gilliam will be there. Let’s make this victory a great party.”

Gilliam began work on the project in 1989 and spent a decade raising funds.

Filming began in 2000, with Johnny Depp starring as an advertising executive transported from the modern day to 17th-century La Mancha.

Flash floods in arid rural Spain destroyed the set on the second day of filming; Jean Rochefort, the actor playing Don Quixote, was in too much pain to ride his horse and was diagnosed with a double hernia, forcing him to quit. Production eventually ground to a halt.

For the next 10 years, Gilliam tried to get the film off the ground again.

A succession of actors were attached in place of Depp and Rochefort, among them Ewan Mcgregor, Robert Duvall, John Hurt and Michael Palin, but all fell through.

The plight of the former Monty Python animator was captured in a 2002 documentary, Lost In La Mancha, about his doomed attempts to shoot the original film.

The final version was shot in 2017, with Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce in the lead roles.

But the production was threatened again when Paolo Branca, a Portuguese producer, blocked the French release by claiming that he owned the film rights.

However, the judge in Paris rejected Mr Branca’s claim.

In a video posted on his Facebook page last week, Gilliam told fans it was “a miracle” that the film would see the light of day.

“The film is done. Complete. Finished. Work is over. It now exists,” he said, adding that its worldwide release depended upon its reception in French cinemas.

“If we are a success in France it will be in all of your neighbourhood cinemas wherever you live. I don’t care where you live – Japan, Australia, America – get yourself over to France,” he said. Speaking in 2016, Gilliam said he did not believe the production really was cursed.

“It’s a good story and I like it. It’s just not what’s really going on. But I’m like Trump, I’ll do anything for headlines,” he joked.

‘We are legally victorious! We will go to the ball, dressed as the closing film at Festival de Cannes’