Jack O’Connell (“Unbroken”) is set to topline €17 million ($21 million) “Don Quixote,” Terry Gilliam’s anticipated feature based on Miguel de Cervantes’ classic novel.
The film is being sold by Gregoire Melin’s Kinology, whose team will be starting pre-sales at AFM.
O’Connell will star opposite John Hurt.
Tony Grisoni, whose credits include “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Tideland” and “The Red Riding Trilogy,” penned the script.
Pic marks Gilliam’s seventh attempt to bring Don Quixote to the bigscreen. “Seven is my lucky number so let’s break the curse and make it!,” quipped Gilliam.
“We believe this film will capture the essence of everything audiences loved in Gilliam’s unforgettable masterpieces such as ‘Brazil,’ ‘Time Bandits’ and ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,’” said Melin, who has been behind the project from the start.
A modern and satirical twist on the tale, “Don Quixote” stars O’Connell as Toby, a jaded commercials director who travels to Spain for a shoot and comes across a gypsy who gives a copy of his student film — a lyrical re-working of the Don Quixote story set in a quaint old Spanish village. Moved by the discovery, Toby sets off on a bizarre road trip to find the little village where the student student film was shot and gets caught up in a series of catastrophies.
Adrian Guerra at Nostromo Pictures is producing. Lensing will begin in spring for an expected May 2016 release.
