Origins (1989–1997) Terry Gilliam first read the novel in 1989, and started conceptualizing an adaptation right away. He saw a personal project in adapting
Don Quixote, as it embodies many of the themes that run through his own work—such as the individual versus society, and the concept of sanity. Instead of a literal adaptation, Gilliam's film was about "an old, retired, and slightly kooky nobleman named Alonso Quixano [who] reads too many chivalric romances. Taking leave of his senses, he sets out to fix the world and revive chivalry, clad in makeshift armor and accompanied by a donkey-owning farmer named Sancho Panza, who serves as his squire". Gilliam signed a deal with
Phoenix Pictures as the studio to make the film in 1990 under the name
Don Quixote.
Sean Connery was in talks to star as Quixote, but Gilliam disliked the idea because "Quixote is air and Sean is earth".
Nigel Hawthorne and
Danny DeVito were also in talks to star as Quixote and Panza respectively. In 1997, Gilliam stated, "The years I wasted on this one! I was so frustrated with Hollywood, I went after European money, needing $20 million. And they said, 'You're on.' But I found out I needed more money. [...] That really hurts, that I let a project I'm convinced I'm the best director on the planet to do, slip by." Their version would also have borrowed elements from
Mark Twain's 1889 novel ''
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, including its time travel elements; after having failed Don Quixote
s original attempt, Gilliam had unsuccessfully tried to adapt A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' into a film. René Cleitman was one of the film's producers.
Filming and cancellation Filming started in September 2000, with
Nicola Pecorini as
cinematographer.
Later attempts (2003–16) After the production had been cancelled, an insurance claim was filed on behalf of the film's investors. US$15 million were reportedly paid, and the rights to the screenplay passed on to the insurance companies. From 2003 on, Gilliam kept on trying to make the film, but to no avail. His first new attempt, six months after the release of
Lost in La Mancha, was quickly turned down. The film quickly gained the reputation of being cursed, notably after the release of
Lost in La Mancha, making it even harder for Gilliam to find financial support. In July 2006, after nearly six years of legalities between the French producers and German insurers, the issue over the rights was settled. During a press junket in 2009 for his film
Public Enemies, Depp stated: [Gilliam and I] have talked about it. But to be honest, the thing about Terry... I love Terry, and I'd do anything the guy wants to do. But with
Quixote... my
dance card is pretty nutty for the next couple of years. So I'd hate to put him in a position—or ask to be in a position—where he'd have to wait for me. That would be wrong. But also, I feel like we went there and tried something, and whatever it was—the elements and all the things that got up underneath us—were there and happened and were documented well in that film
Lost in La Mancha. So I don't know if it's right for me to go back there. I don't know if it's right for Terry too, but if he wants to... In 2008, Gilliam restarted preliminary work on a new version of the film. The film would be reshot completely, and Rochefort's role had been recast. In 2008,
Michael Palin reportedly entered talks with Gilliam to step in for Rochefort and play Don Quixote. In November 2009, Gilliam said he had finished re-casting the role, but he refused to disclose the actor's identity. In a December 2009 interview with
Collider,
Robert Duvall claimed on-camera to be Gilliam's new choice for Don Quixote; this was later confirmed by Gilliam, with Depp still attached to co-star as Toby. Since Depp was signed for two
Disney films, further production delays were suspected, but commencement of shooting was scheduled for early 2010. Whether the production timetable would have been maintained is unknown, because Depp stated that he would not make room in his tight schedule for Gilliam's film. Depp even noted that he was not sure if he wanted to revisit the revived film project at all. The film was to be produced by Jeremy Thomas for
Recorded Picture Company. International sales would have been handled by
HanWay Films. On 17 May 2010, it was announced
Ewan McGregor had been cast in the film. Gilliam entered main pre-production once again in 2009. After finally retrieving the rights to the screenplay, Gilliam and Grisoni started to rewrite the plot in January 2009 and hoped to be finished within a month. In 2010, Gilliam stated that primary casting was finalised, with Duvall and McGregor still attached; however on 5 September of the same year, he revealed that funding had collapsed a month and half earlier and as a result shooting was delayed. By 2012, Duvall was still potentially attached to the film, but not McGregor, with Tony Grisoni commenting the same year "Us survivors of
Don Q are a strange kind of dysfunctional family. Every year since we have rewritten the screenplay. And we've got quite good at it. You will be pleased to hear the Don is back up and in the saddle and ready to ride under new colours." In an interview with
Empires website, Gilliam stated that production would start up again 29 September 2014 in the
Canary Islands. Spanish producer Adrián Guerra was on board to fund the project. Gilliam said of Guerra, "He's really smart, loves movies. He's young enough to still love movies, but we've still got to cast it and get the money but other than that, that's the deal." New concept art by Gilliam collaborator Dave Warren was also released. In August 2014, in an interview with
TheWrap, Gilliam revealed that he had received funding, and that the plot of the film has changed: "Our main character actually made a Don Quixote movie a lot earlier in his history, and the effect it had on many people wasn't very nice. Some people go mad, some people turn to drink, some people become whores." In September 2014, actor
John Hurt confirmed he had become attached to the film in the titular role of Quixote, replacing Robert Duvall. In a September 2014 interview with
Rolling Stone, Gilliam said that making
Don Quixote next "[...] is my plan, but plans have nothing to do with reality. We shall see what happens. I really can't say anything at the moment, because there's been a little hiccup — once again. The
Sisyphean rock that keeps rolling back. Just as we almost get to the top of the mountain... We'll see what happens. I'm not a happy camper at the moment." When asked why he continues to attempt making the film, Gilliam said, "Oh, I don't know, pigheadedness, stupid – I really don't know anymore. I'm beginning to actually think, 'If it doesn't work this time, I'm gonna dump it.' I've wasted far too much of my life doing it. If you're going to do Quixote, you have to become as mad as Quixote. [...] I've wasted how many years? Fifteen? Yeah, there's a certain point. It's kind of the determination to be crazy and unreasonable. Every intelligent person around me says, 'Walk away from it.' But those are reasonable people." In November 2014,
Jack O'Connell was cast as Toby. In September 2015, the film's production was suspended once again, due to Hurt being diagnosed with
pancreatic cancer shortly before filming. He eventually died from his cancer on 25 January 2017. Gilliam paid homage to him on Facebook, stating, "Sadly, the earthly marvel that was John Hurt has departed us. Two years ago, he and I were off to make
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote when he was diagnosed with a particularly evil brand of cancer. Despite the terrible prognosis he was determined to carry on working. And he did. Right to the final curtain. In the end, cancer was the windmill that he couldn't defeat. John was not just a phenomenal actor, but a wickedly wonderful human being. I felt honoured to be a friend." That same year, original Quixote portrayer
Jean Rochefort also died. Gilliam also paid homage to him: "When I saw him a couple of years ago he seemed to be growing younger, not older. I imagined that, like Quixote, he was capable of living forever. That he should be gone is unbelievably sad. Farewell, Jean."
With Paulo Branco as producer (2016) At the
66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016, Gilliam, in need of a minimum 16 million euros for the budget in order to make the film, was introduced to Portuguese producer
Paulo Branco, who promised that he would obtain the needed budget by September, a few weeks before they would start the eleven weeks-long shoot. With the film having entered pre-production once again, Gilliam cast Palin as Quixote,
Adam Driver as Toby, and
Olga Kurylenko as the female lead. Reportedly, Driver would have been paid 610,000 euros for the film, with Palin being paid 285,000 euros. Pryce had previously starred in Gilliam's films
Brazil (1985),
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), and
The Brothers Grimm (2005), and was also cast in the original 2000 production of
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in a different role. Gilliam stated, "Jonathan has been wanting to [play Quixote] for 15 years – he's been making my life a misery. And now he's here and he's just extraordinary. The editor, who is Spanish, says that she can never imagine another Quixote. So it's as if the time was right: everything seemed to be ready to make this thing." Driver stated that "Terry couldn't control his enthusiasm, nor how deeply ingrained this movie was within his body. It seemed like an exorcism, every day we were making it." During filming, Gilliam commented on how well they were doing: "I still worry. We've had too much luck, so it could go wrong at any moment. Today, the clouds are building. They'll probably block out the light and we'll have to go home." Only a few crew members constantly worked on the film between 2000 and the final product, including Gilliam, his daughter Amy (who co-produced the film), co-writer
Tony Grisoni, cinematographer
Nicola Pecorini, and production designer Benjamin Fernandez.
Post-production In November 2017, Gilliam stated that
editing was nearly complete: "We're just fiddling now, figuring out a few things here and there so it's pretty much what it is. We've got still months of work to do on visual effects, sound, music. But as far as the tale, it's pretty tight now and it's surprisingly wonderful". On 23 December, he stated, "The year is almost finished... and so is
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote." In May 2018, at the same time
Amazon Studios dropped from the project, Gilliam suffered a minor medical complication that was erroneously reported as a
stroke.
Convent of Christ controversy During filming in Portugal, Gilliam's team was accused of damaging public properties, as well as the
Convent of Christ, a notable convent in
Tomar and a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. The accusation came from a report by Portuguese news channel
RTP1, which stated that the crew had "left behind chipped masonry, broken roof tiles and uprooted trees at the 12th-century Convent of Christ in Tomar, central Portugal." Gilliam denied the accusations, stating, "I think the Convent of Christ is one of the most glorious buildings I have ever seen. Everything we did there was to protect the building from harm... and we succeeded. Trees were not cut down, stones were not broken. [...] There was not an iota of disrespect involved. People should begin by getting the facts before howling hysterically." An investigation by the Portuguese government took place during the following weeks to determine if the news report was accurate, with the presence of "some damage" being acknowledged, which was catalogued by the convent officials who monitored the filming. The destruction of the trees was determined to have occurred during the production of an earlier, unrelated film. On 4 July 2017, Portuguese authorities ruled that Gilliam's crew was only responsible for "insignificant damage", adding that the accusations "lacked rigor and revealed a lack of scientific knowledge".
Legal dispute with Paulo Branco Paulo Branco, a former producer of the film, stated in June 2017 that this new version was "illegal" and that he, not Gilliam, owned the rights to the film, and that as such, any content shot for the film was the property of Alfama Films, one of the film's former production companies. Branco was a producer on the film during Gilliam's previous attempt at making it in 2016, and was supposed to find funds for the film; in exchange, Gilliam would give his salary as writer-director to Branco. As of April 2018, Branco still claimed that the film could not be released without his permission, leading to the issue being debated in court; as a result, the premiere of the film at the
2018 Cannes Film Festival was cancelled. Both Gilliam's lawyer and Océan Films, the French distributor of the film, stated that Branco was actively trying to prevent the film from being included in festivals to pressure the producers into paying him so the issue could be settled in time for festivals, with Océan Films stating that Branco "was never, is not and never will be the producer of Terry Gilliam's
Don Quixote", adding that the producers and distributors "would not yield to this attempt at intimidation". They also stated that Branco had previously attempted to have filming cancelled, but that his claim had been rejected by the court on 19 May 2017. Branco immediately stated that he would keep on pursuing legal action against Gilliam and the film's release. On 9 May, it was announced that the film would be allowed to premiere at Cannes. The festival's organizers answered Branco's claims by stating, "The Festival de Cannes' mission is to choose works purely on artistic grounds and the selection must, above all, be with the agreement of the film's director. This is the case here. Past experience had made us aware of possible legal action and of the risks we were running, but as it happens, when we took our decision, there was no opposition to the screening of the film at the festival." Later that month, it was reported that although the Court ruled in favor of Branco, producer Mariela Busuievsky clarified that Gilliam in fact still retains the rights to the film, saying that Branco overstated his victory in the ruling. Gilliam never shot a frame of the film under the deal with Branco, and as such, the former producer does not own any rights. However, since Gilliam did a poor job of terminating his contract with Branco, there will be a financial settlement that will have to be made between the two parties and the ex-producer has been using this to claim a right to the finished film. Busuievsky went on to say that the latest ruling does say that Gilliam owes €10,000 and there will probably be more money required to settle. However, these financial issues don't affect the film's release. According to the producer, they chose to remain quiet about the actual major details because it didn't feel necessary, but when Branco went public with his victory and claimed rights to the film, they felt they had to step forward and air all the "dirty laundry". The producer said in 2018 that they were making plans for European territories, with US distribution to follow shortly. She said that "there are many options" in regards to US distributors. == Promotion ==