When you are obsessed with movies and the industry that makes them, it becomes a sad fact of life that you will hear about millions of amazing project ideas that simply don’t come together. There was a time not all that long ago when it seemed likely that eitherDavid FincherorDavid Cronenbergwere going to be adaptingCharles Burns' brilliant graphic novelBlack Holefor the big screen. Where did that go? Down the drain. For many years,Tim Burtonseemed prepared to adaptKatherine Dunn’s classic, malevolentGeek Love. It never happened. And let’s not even get into all the nonsense and missed opportunities that had to go down beforeZack Snyderwas finally given permission to destroy everything you loved aboutAlan Moore’sWatchmen.
Of these many “what if” propositions and abandoned productions - let us not forget what happened toEdgar WrightwithAnt-Man-The Man Who Killed Don Quixoteis a crown jewel of sorts. Back in the 1990s,BrazildirectorTerry Gilliamhad the idea to adapt a variation on the story of Don Quixote in a distinctly Gilliamesque way and brought soon-to-be spousal assault pin-upJohnny Deppalong for the ride. The production was a disaster, complete with technical issues, weather problems, and nervous backers, to the point that a very good documentary was released about the troubled shoot, calledLost in La Mancha. The movie never came to pass and Gilliam went on to direct a series of mediocrities until Amazon decided to step in and give the famedTime Banditsdirector a second chance withQuixote.
That confidence in Gilliam has payed off today, as Gilliam took to social media today to announce that filming has wrapped onThe Man Who Killed Don Quixotesome 17 years after he initially took the project on. The new film stars Adam Driver in the lead role, but there’s not much else to know about the project right now and, if we’re being honest, that’s for the better. Considering the legacy that this movie comes burdened/equipped with, there should be some mystery to the project until it’s available to see but I’m sure we’ll be learning quite a lot about the movie as the months go on. For now, I’m just going to stare at the photo Gilliam posted along with the announcement of completing the shoot, which you can look at below, and fantasize a little bit.
