Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote delayed again

At some point, art can imitate life too much. That's certainly the case when it comes to filmmaker Terry Gilliam and his Don Quixote project.

It all started back in 1999, when he got more than $30 million together to bring his vision of The Man Who Killed Dox Quixote to life. It was to be about a modern day ad man, played by Johnny Depp, who gets thrown back to 17th century Spain where he meets the one and only Don Quixote - played by Jean Rochefort. Injury and flash floods killed that production, and a couple of attempted revivals with the likes of Robert Duvall and Ewan McGregor have fallen by the wayside. There was even a documentary made, which is well worth a watch.

Then it all came back again, with renewed interest in a reimagined version starring Jack O'Connell and John Hurt. We spoke to Gilliam about it last year as he was fighting with the budget:

"It’s always a new version [laughs]! It’s the same film but a new version. We just did something about two weeks ago, we just cut out one of my favourite scenes. I’m trying to get to the point where the money we can raise and the script meet!"

And now, the film is off again. Actor Hurt was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and while its not thought to be life threatening the 75 year old simply can't keep up with a major movie production while he's in treatment. On top of that, having a major star with that kind of illness makes the film essentially uninsurable.

So this counts as yet another delay for the production, and it's getting kind of ridiculous at this stage. But Gilliam isn't about to give up:

"Yes it occurs to me all the time, just give it up. But once you’re hooked, once the obsession is there, once the self-flagellation has taken over. It’s kind of out of spite that I’m doing it, to spite all the people saying ‘you’re stupid, give it up man!’"

Quixotic, wouldn't you say?

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote might come out... someday.