Yeah, we know we’ve been talking about this one a lot, and while we really do want to see this film happen, the writing has been on the wall for the a little while that it might not happen as soon as we would like. First, Ewan McGregor seemed a little doubtful, Robert Duvall seemed tentative and then Terry Gilliam himself had said that his long-gestating “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” is going to be a bit of a way off.
However, doing press rounds for his upcoming webcast of the Arcade Fire’s Madison Square Garden gig (tonight!), he has put it plain and simple. Gilliam has told MTV that funding is the current hurdle the film faces and the reason we pretty much long suspected:
MTV: So…”Don Quixote.” Where are you at right now? I have my fingers crossed that you’re still moving forward. Terry Gilliam: We moved forward and then we stepped back a bit. Originally, I thought we were going to be in pre-production right now, but there’s been a little hiccup. And me doing this thing with Arcade Fire is a result of this hiccup with “Don Quixote.” Robert Duvall is still Quixote and Ewan McGregor is still involved — all that stuff is still happening. There’s just been a financial hiccup. MTV: You were so close this time. After all the craziness surrounding the project, to be so close and hit that hiccup, is it just incredibly frustrating or business as usual? Gilliam: It’s business as usual. That’s the problem. The sad thing is you get used to this, which is a kind of numbing experience. And to be numb is not the best thing to be creative. You gear yourself up for a certain level of work — and then boom: hiccup. Suddenly the energy had nowhere to go. That’s frustrating. So it was extraordinary to get the call from Arcade Fire. I have to thank them for liberating me from weeks of depression. I’ll get back on “Quixote” after I get back. MTV: Is it really still going to happen? Gilliam: I’ll get back to it, but at the moment out there, if you’re not spending a couple hundred million dollars in Hollywood, it’s pretty rough. It’s hard to predict anything. Everyone’s having these problems. I’m not different from anybody else.
Sigh. Well, we suppose it wouldn’t be a Gilliam film without some kind problem for him to overcome, but it’s good to know that Duvall and McGregor are still, for now, committed to the film.We hope the Arcade Fire gig is a success, gets Gilliam’s name spoken among those who control the purse strings in Hollywood, and that someone kicks him the cash he needs to get this thing made. Or who knows, maybe he’ll just get straight to work on that mysterious project he’s cooking up with the band….
