Johnny Depp and Terry Gilliam tilt again at Don Quixote

The filming of Don Quixote has been a saga every bit as epic as the 15th-century literary classic on which it is based.

But now, seven years after the film was aborted on one of the most disaster-prone shoots in cinema history, Terry Gilliam's dream of making a big screen version has been revived. Gilliam, the former Monty Python star and director of Brazil, Twelve Monkeys and The Fisher King, is to reunite with Johnny Depp for a second attempt to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. The development is the latest twist in what is one of the most remarkable stories in cinema history. The original shoot, which suffered a series of setbacks, was captured on film by documentary makers and Lost In La Mancha became a hit in its own right. One source close to the revived project, who asked not to be named, said: "They are having another crack at it after putting a deal together. Johnny is a bigger star now than he was then, thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean, and there is every confidence they can pull it off." The first attempt to make the film in 2001 ended in disaster after just five days of shooting, at a location near Madrid. On the first day of the £16 million shoot, actor Jean Rochefort, 70, suffered a double hernia. The next day the set was washed away by a flash flood. When Depp, who plays a 21st century marketing executive transported back in time, declared he could not wait for Rochefort to recover because of other commitments, the film's financiers pulled the plug. The insurers reportedly paid out $15 million (£7.5 million) and took control of the script. Ownership of the script has now returned to Gilliam. Shortly after the collapse of the project, Gilliam said he had come to sympathise with Quixote, who in one episode in Cervantes's novel "tilts at", or attacks, windmills that he mistakes for giants, an image that has come to stand for the pursuit of impossible dreams.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2462406/Johnny-Depp-and-Terry-Gilliam-tilt-again-at-Don-Quixote.html

Hunter's Archive and Johnny Depp

Hi. it's been a busy day. Sorry it took me so long to post the link to the Huffington Post Blog on The Dalai Lama's keynote address. I'll be blogging there as often as possible. You can post comments there since I don't have a comments section on this site. Arianna's team suggests to us bloggers to respond to comments whenever possible. Very civil, i thought...
I just got back from the Aspen Institute where they were showing, for the first time to locals, a screening of Alex Gibney's film Gonzo: The Life And Work of Hunter S. Thompson, where I received earfulls of local gossip. (That's what happens when you don't go out much).
Jesus. Let me clarify. Yes, Johnny Depp did recently purchase Hunter's archive (of aprox 800 boxes). There has been some internal hissing going on about it not going to a University. Listen, it has been made clear to me that eventually the archive will be placed in a University after Johnny's team has organized the overwhelming amount of archival material. But let me remind you that Johnny is a very dear friend to the family and cares about Hunter's legacy as much as anyone. So yes, Johnny is now the custodian and owner of the majority of Hunter S. Thompson's papers.
I won't get into all the details now, because some are private, and it's also very late. But suffice it to say that I think Hunter would be pleased that his papers are in the able hands of his dear friend who is in the position to hire experts to organize the archive. Yes, it is important for scholars to have access -- and that will happen when the time is right.
Goodnight! Your friend,
Anita Thompson
http://www.owlfarmblog.com/blog/2008/07/johnny_depp_and_the_hst_archiv.html