The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is a 2018 adventure-comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Tony Grisoni, loosely based on the 1605/1615 novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Gilliam tried to make the film many times over 29 years, which made it an infamous example of development hell.
Gilliam started work on the film in 1989 but was unable to secure funding until 1998 when it entered full pre-production with a budget of $32.1 million without American financing, with Jean Rochefort as Quixote, Johnny Depp as Toby Grummett, a 21st-century marketing executive thrown back through time and Vanessa Paradis as the female lead. Shooting began in 2000 in Navarre, but difficulties such as sets and equipment being 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 a making-of but was released on its own in 2002.
Gilliam tried to relaunch production between 2003 and 2016, which included Depp, Ewan McGregor and Jack O'Connell as Toby and Robert Duvall, Michael Palin and John Hurt as Quixote. All were cancelled for various reasons, such as failing to secure funds, Depp's busy schedule and eventual loss of interest in the project and Hurt being diagnosed with cancer that eventually led to his death. After yet another failed attempt, it was unexpectedly reported in March 2017 that filming had finally started, with Adam Driver, who was confirmed as Toby in 2016 and helped secure funding, and Jonathan Pryce as Quixote. On 4 June 2017, Gilliam announced that the shooting of the film was complete, 17 years after it originally started.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote premiered on 19 May 2018, simultaneously acting as the closing film at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and being released in French theaters. Gilliam faced difficulties in the process of releasing the film worldwide, partially due to a lengthy legal dispute with former producer Paulo Branco. Subsequently, the film was only released in a few other countries, including Belgium, Spain and Portugal; it was released in the United States and Canada on 10 April 2019 and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 31 January 2020.
Plot
Toby Grummett, a director, is in rural Spain, struggling with the production of a commercial featuring Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. After an unsuccessful day of shooting, Toby's superior, the Boss, introduces him to a Romani street merchant who sells him an old DVD of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. By coincidence, Toby wrote and directed the film ten years earlier as a student. Toby watches the film while in bed with the Boss's wife, Jacqui. When the Boss returns to the hotel room, Toby barely escapes without being recognized.
A flashback shows student Toby casting elderly cobbler Javier Sanchez as Don Quixote. Javier initially falters in his characterization, but upon rushing to defend teenage waitress Angelica when a member of Toby's crew plays a prank on her, succeeds in embodying that "I am Don Quixote".
Toby realizes that his current shoot is near the shooting location of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Taking a motorbike to Los Sueños, he learns that Angelica has moved away from her father Raul. Toby meets Javier, now working as a tourist attraction. He discovers that Javier has become convinced that he is the real Don Quixote, and that Toby is his squire, Sancho Panza. Quixote accidentally causes a fire that spreads through the town, as Toby escapes on the motorbike.
On the set, police are investigating the "break in" of Jacqui's room. The police notice that Toby's bike was the one spotted in Los Sueños and take him in for questioning. En route, they encounter Don Quixote on his horse Rocinante, who demands that the officers release Toby. When they dismiss him, Quixote attacks, culminating in one of the officers being shot and the Romani man stealing the police car. Quixote supplies Toby with a donkey and clothes from the set, and they set off for adventures.