The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is an upcoming film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Tony Grisoni, loosely based on the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. It is widely recognized as one of the most infamous examples of development hell in film history, with Gilliam unsuccessfully attempting to make the film a total of eight times over the span of nineteen years.

Pre-production of the film first started in 1998, with a budget of $32.1 million without American financing, with Jean Rochefort as Quixote, Johnny Depp as Toby Grisoni, a 21st-century marketing executive thrown back through time, and Vanessa Paradis as the female lead. Shooting began in 2000 in Navarre, but a significant number of difficulties such as set and equipment destroyed by flooding, the departure of Rochefort due to illness, problems obtaining insurance for the production, and other financial difficulties, led to a sudden suspension of the production and its subsequent cancellation. The original production was the subject of the documentary film Lost in La Mancha, which was intended to be the making-of the film but was released on its own in 2002. Gilliam made several repeated attempts to relaunch production between 2005 and 2015, which included the likes of Robert Duvall, Michael Palin, and John Hurt as Quixote, and Depp, Ewan McGregor, or Jack O'Connell as Grisoni.

The most recent attempt to make the film was in 2016; after Gilliam announced it during the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, it was planned to start shooting in October 2016, with Palin as Quixote, Adam Driver as Grisoni, and Olga Kurylenko as the female lead. The new version would be set in modern day, with Grisoni as a director shooting a commercial and coming across a copy of his old student film, a re-telling of the famous Don Quixote story, which leads him back to the little Spanish village where he shot it back in the days, only to get embroiled in a series of adventures and catastrophes. However, in October 2016, it was announced that the production was delayed yet again, as producer Paulo Branco was unable to secure funds; Gilliam however still intends to make the film, stating, "I will be dead before the film is."