Director Terry Gilliam has compared attempts to film Cervantes' 1605 novel
Don Quixote to theatrical productions of
MacBeth - i.e, they have been so plagued by disaster that actors performing in the latter still refuse to mention the title, opting to call it
The Scottish Play. Gilliam first attempted to film
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in 1990 with Johnny Depp cast as a modern executive who travels back in time and becomes Don Quixote's legendary sidekick Sancho Panza. It wasn't long before disasters - both natural and financial- struck the production. The film was never completed, though an acclaimed documentary
Lost in La Mancha detailed Gilliam's heartbreaking realization that his dream project would not be fulfilled. Now, Gilliam is wading back into dangerous waters, more convinced than ever that he can bring the project to life. It will be with a new cast and a new, improved script that he says, with typical hyperbole, is the greatest ever written. Whether he can succeed this time or he's tilting at a few windmills of his own, remains to be seen. Â
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