Johnny Depp’s production company, Infinitum Nihil, has struck a deal with Disney to make a modern re-imagining of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic, Don Quixote. Deadline reports the as-yet-untitled project will be based on a script from co-writers Jeff Morris and Steven Pink (Hot Tub Time Machine).
For years now, Depp has been attached to star as Cervantes’ noble-but-bonkers knight errant, but always in connection with director Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, the famously troubled production that has been on-again, off-again for more than a decade now. Gilliam’s first attempt to shoot the film (with French star Jean Rochefort in the lead) fell apart in 2000 thanks to an eerie barrage of on-set mishaps, and revival attempts have been stuck in pre-production since 2009, despite Depp’s eagerness to be involved.
So it appears Depp has finally grown impatient and struck out on his own, which is probably music to Disney’s ears. Without a stubborn auteur like Gilliam in the way, Disney can go ahead and turn Don Quixote into a blockbuster spectacle along the lines of, say, Depp’s upcoming The Lone Ranger, which Infinitum Nihil just helped wrap up.
While Depp is only officially a producer at the moment, it seems a safe bet that he will be attached to star very soon, and a frequent directing collaborator like Gore Verbinski or Tim Burton won’t be far behind.
Unfortunately, a competing project will most likely make it even more difficult for Gilliam to get his version off the ground. Perhaps he should just go ahead and start production on Lost in La Mancha 2.
