During his long career, American-born British film director Terry Gilliam has worked on a number of projects that never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell into development hell or were cancelled. The following is a list of projects in roughly chronological order.
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20th century
editTheseus and the Minotaur
editRight after he finished Jabberwocky (1977), Gilliam’s next film project would be Theseus and the Minotaur, based on Greek mythology. The film was shelved when Gilliam chose to make Time Bandits (1981) instead.[1]
Watchmen
editIn 1989, Gilliam and film producer Joel Silver unsuccessfully attempted to make a film adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen.[2] Gilliam was, reportedly, Moore's first choice to direct the film.[3] Gilliam tried to make the film again in 1996 but was unsuccessful.[4]
A Scanner Darkly
editIn the early 1990s, Gilliam attempted to make a film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly.[5][6]
The Defective Detective
editIn 1992, it was reported that Gilliam was going to make The Defective Detective next after The Fisher King (1991), only to abandon it in favor of making a Don Quixote film.[7] Then, Gilliam worked on The Defective Detective again, only to reject it in favor of directing 12 Monkeys (1995) instead.[8][9] Then, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1996 that Gilliam was working on The Defective Detective script with Richard LaGravenese.[10] According to the L.A. Times, the story was "about a middle-aged New York cop who’s having a nervous breakdown and ends up in a fantasy world."[10] The film was to have been produced by Scott Rudin and Margie Simkin and distributed by Paramount Pictures.[11] Nicolas Cage was to star in the film.[5][12] In addition to Cage, Bruce Willis, Cameron Diaz, and Nick Nolte were attached to the project.[13] Danny DeVito was also attached to the project.[14][15] Gilliam claims that Sean Connery was also involved.[16] In February 1997, Paramount put the film in turnaround.[17]
In June 2015, Gilliam hinted that The Defective Detective could possibly be made into a miniseries on Amazon Prime Video.[18][19] Variety reported in November that same year that Gilliam and LaGravenese regained the rights to the script from Paramount and "reworked it as a six-hour miniseries."[20]
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
editIt was reported in 1993 that Gilliam was going to direct a film adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court for Warner Bros. and producer Jerry Weintraub, with the script written by Robert Mark Kamen.[21] The film got cancelled when financing fell through.[10]
A Tale of Two Cities
editIn 1994, Gilliam attempted to make a film adaptation of Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities with Mel Gibson starring.[22][23][24][25] However, Gibson dropped out of the project in favor of directing and starring in Braveheart (1995).[5][10] After Gibson left the project, Gilliam replaced him with Liam Neeson and attempted to make the film for half the initial budget, but to no avail.[1] Madeleine Stowe was also attached to the project.[26] The film was ultimately shelved due to budget and casting reasons.[26][27][28] Gilliam then made 12 Monkeys (1995) instead.[10][29] When asked in 2009 if he still expressed interest in making the film, Gilliam replied, "Nah. That’s dead. That’s over."[30]
Son of Strangelove
editIn 1995, Stanley Kubrick hired Terry Southern to write the script that would have been the sequel to Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove.[31] The film was to have been titled Son of Strangelove, and Kubrick wanted Gilliam to direct it.[32] The script was never completed.[33] Gilliam said in 2013, "I was told after Kubrick died—by someone who had been dealing with him—that he had been interested in trying to do another Strangelove with me directing. I never knew about that until after he died but I would have loved to."[34][35]
Time Bandits II
editIn 1996, Gilliam and Charles McKeown wrote two drafts of an unproduced script titled Time Bandits II, which would have been the sequel to Time Bandits (1981).[36] Gilliam was to have produced the sequel and not direct it.[10] In 2001, Gilliam and McKeown attempted to make Time Bandits II as a television miniseries for the Hallmark Channel.[1][37][38]
The Truman Show
editGilliam was among the filmmakers considered to direct The Truman Show (1998) before Peter Weir assumed the position.[39]
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
editGilliam was reportedly J.K. Rowling's first choice to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), the first film of the Harry Potter movies.[3][40][41][42] In a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gilliam stated, "J.K. Rowling and the producer wanted me. Then wiser people — studio heads — prevailed. I was the clear choice. At one point they approached Alan Parker and he said, 'Why are you talking to me? Gilliam is the guy who should be doing this!' But I knew I was never going to get the job."[43] Gilliam was ultimately rejected by Warner Bros.[27][28][44] Instead, the studio replaced Gilliam with Chris Columbus.[45][46][47] Gilliam reportedly criticized the studio's decision to pick Columbus over him and stated, "I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian."[48][49][50]
21st century
editGood Omens
editIn 2002, Gilliam attempted to direct a film adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens.[51][52][53][54] Johnny Depp and Robin Williams were to have appeared in the film as the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale, respectively.[55][56][57][58] The film never came to fruition.[59][60][61] According to Gilliam, the film was cancelled due to the then-occurring aftermath of the September 11 attacks.[62] The story eventually appeared in 2019 under the same name, Good Omens, as a 6-episode series streaming on Amazon Prime Video and aired by BBC Two, but it was directed by Douglas Mackinnon, starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant.[63]
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
editIn 2004, author Daniel Handler revealed in an interview that Gilliam had been interested in directing the film adaptation of his A Series of Unfortunate Events novel series.[64]
Untitled Gorillaz film
editIt was rumored that Gilliam may direct or be involved in the production of the animated Gorillaz movie. In a September 2006 interview with Uncut, Damon Albarn was reported to have said, "we're making a film. We've got Terry Gilliam involved."[65] However, in a more recent interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Jamie Hewlett, the co-creator of the band, stated that since the time of the previous interview, Damon's and his own interest in the film had lessened. In an August 2008 Observer interview, Gorillaz band members Albarn and Hewlett revealed the nature and title of the project, Journey to the West, a film adaptation of the opera of the same name, based on a 16th-century Chinese adventure story also known as Monkey.[66] In January 2008, while on set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam stated that he was looking forward to the project, "[b]ut [he's] still waiting to see a script!".[67]
The Sandman
editIn 2007, Neil Gaiman expressed interest in having Gilliam direct a film adaptation of The Sandman, but the director was too preoccupied with Good Omens at the moment.[68]
The World Jones Made
editIn 2009, it was announced that Gilliam was going to adapt Philip K. Dick’s The World Jones Made into a feature film.[69]
Mr. Vertigo
editDuring the second half of 2011, Gilliam and Paul Auster wrote a screenplay for a film adaptation of Auster's novel Mr. Vertigo.[70][71] In June 2018, Gilliam announced at the Brussels International Film Festival that he was working again on Mr. Vertigo, that it might be his next film, and that he had Ralph Fiennes attached to star in it.[72][73]
Untitled stop-motion film
editIn 2014, Gilliam was in talks to make his first animated feature film with Laika, the studio behind Coraline and ParaNorman.[74]
Offers
editEnemy Mine
editGilliam turned down the offer to direct Enemy Mine (1985).[45][75]
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
editGilliam also turned down the offer to direct Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).[76] According to Gilliam, "I passed on that one, but that didn't matter because it was just at a stage when it was still just the book and I didn't want to get into animation. I just read the book and said, 'This is too much work.' Pure laziness on my part."[76] The film wound up being directed by Robert Zemeckis.[77]
The Addams Family
editAccording to Barry Sonnenfeld, Gilliam turned down the offer to direct The Addams Family (1991).[78]
Alien sequel
editGilliam confirmed in 2018 that he turned down an offer to direct one of the sequels to Alien (1979).[79] It is presumed he turned down Alien 3 (1992), even though Gilliam did not specify which of the sequels he was referring to.[80]
Forrest Gump
editGilliam turned down the offer to direct Forrest Gump (1994).[81][82]
Braveheart
editGilliam turned down the offer to direct Braveheart (1995).[83]
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
editGilliam turned down the offer to direct Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), the sixth film of the series.[84] When asked if he was interested in directing any of the Harry Potter movies, Gilliam replied, "Warner Bros. had their chance the first time around, and they blew it. It's a factory job, that's what it is, and I know the way it's done. I've had too many friends work on those movies. I know the way it works, and that's not the way I work."[85] In 2011, Gilliam expressed his regret at entering into talks to direct the first Harry Potter film.[86]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Rossen, Jake (26 August 2015). "7 Movies Terry Gilliam Just Can't Seem to Make". Mental Floss. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ Jensen, Jeff (21 October 2005). "Watchmen: An Oral History". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ a b O'Hehir, Andrew (20 September 2014). "Terry Gilliam: Hollywood is just "gray, frightened people" holding on for dear life". Salon. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ Bailey, Jason (4 March 2014). "Let's Unpack Zack Snyder's Ugly, Mean-Spirited Terry Gilliam Slam". Flavorwire. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ a b c "Everything That Can Go Wrong: A Brief Look at Terry Gilliam's Productions". Film School Rejects. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ Hughes, Kat (12 May 2017). "10 Things You Never Knew About 'A Scanner Darkly'". The Hollywood News. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ "BALDWIN IN LINE FOR 'INDECENT PROPOSAL'". Orlando Sentinel. 17 April 1992. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Guthmann, Edward (8 January 1996). "'Monkeys' Evolved From the Peoples / Berkeley couple scripted hit movie". San Francisco Gate. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Michael, Dennis (15 April 1996). "The Hollywood Minute". CNN. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f Mathews, Jack (7 January 1996). "UNIVERSAL SOLDIER : Terry Gilliam Gets 1 Monkey Off His Back". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ "Nicolas Cage May Star in 'Defective Detective'". Tulsa World. 26 November 1996. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ "DIRECTOR'S CUT OF 'FLAMINGOS' CELEBRATES 25TH". Hartford Courant. 1 December 1996. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ "Bruce Willis, Terry Gilliam and THE DEFECTIVE DETECTIVE'". Ain't It Cool News. 18 December 1999. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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- ^ Bell, Christopher (17 May 2011). "Will Terry Gilliam's 'The Defective Detective' Finally Hit The Big Screen?". IndieWire. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Welk, Brian (10 April 2019). "Terry Gilliam's Epically Troubled The Man Who Killed Don Quixote: A Brief History". TheWrap. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Busch, Anita M. (22 April 1997). "Helmer Gilliam readies 'Defective,' 'Loathing'". Variety. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Towers, Andrea (11 June 2015). "Terry Gilliam to finally make his Don Quixote movie as part of Amazon deal". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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- ^ a b Fleming, Michael (17 August 1998). "WB, Gibson dicker on Dickens pic". Variety. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ a b Bay Area News Group (5 January 2010). "'Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' director Terry Gilliam talks about his curious career". East Bay Times. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Parnassus director Terry Gilliam fights to keep 'freak show' real". Deseret News. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ Blair, Andrew (27 March 2012). "Looking back at Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys". Den of Geek. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ Goldberg, Matt (18 December 2009). "Terry Gilliam Talks about His "Beleaguered" Past, Updates His IMDb Page, and His Thoughts on WATCHMEN". Collider. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
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- ^ Brown, Todd (12 October 2013). "Stanley Kubrick Wanted Terry Gilliam To Direct SON OF STRANGELOVE". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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- ^ Lyttleton, Oliver (15 December 2011). "Marrakech Film Festival '11: Terry Gilliam Talks 3D, 'Harry Potter,' 'Watchmen' & The Inoffensiveness Of Modern Comedy". IndieWire. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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- ^ Walker, Tim (3 October 2009). "Cursed genius: Terry Gilliam". The Independent. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ a b Embury, Sabra (14 December 2015). "Terry Gilliam Talks 'Gilliamesque,' the Surrealist Director's 'Pre-Posthumous Memoir'". Vice. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Jackson, Matthew (15 December 2012). "TERRY GILLIAM TRASHES TRANSFORMERS: 'WHAT'S THE POINT?'". SyfyWire. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Kent, Camden (31 October 2015). "Cinema Spotlight: The Career of Terry Gilliam". KRUI-FM. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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- ^ Vincent, Alice (24 December 2016). "13 things you didn't know about Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Kirby, Ben (7 March 2014). "The A-Z Of Terry Gilliam". Empire. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Trussell, Jacob (8 October 2018). "'Good Omens' Trailer: The Apocalyptic Buddy Comedy We've Been Waiting For". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Kevin (17 April 2016). "Neil Gaiman's 'Good Omens' Novel Finally Getting TV Adaptation". ScreenCrush. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ White, Cameron (20 January 2017). "'Good Omens': Neil Gaiman And Terry Pratchett Novel To Become Amazon Miniseries". Inquisitr. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Coggan, Devan (31 May 2019). "Neil Gaiman breaks down Good Omens and its long, strange trip to the screen". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Menta, Anna (10 April 2018). "DAVID TENNANT WAS 'UNPREPARED' FOR THE 'GOOD OMENS' TV SHOW FANBASE". Newsweek. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Barber, Nicholas (8 May 2018). "Terry Gilliam's Quixote: This 'cursed' film is finally here". BBC. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Jeffery, Morgan (31 May 2019). "Neil Gaiman reveals why it's taken 30 years to bring Good Omens to the screen". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Jackson, Matthew (3 February 2014). "TERRY GILLIAM'S STILL FIGHTING TO ADAPT GOOD OMENS (BUT MAYBE NOT AS A FILM)". SyfyWire. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ "Good Omens: How Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett wrote a book". BBC News. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Wilson, Benji (30 May 2019). "'Good Omens': Tennant, Sheen and Hamm dish on the demonic pleasures of apocalyptic tale". USA Today. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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- ^ Pahle, Rebecca (5 February 2019). "10 Nice and Accurate Facts About Good Omens". Mental Floss. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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- ^ D., Spence (December 16, 2004). "Interview: Lemony Snicket". IGN. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
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- ^ Monkey magic, The Observer, 10 August 2008
- ^ "Dreams: 2008 News Blog". Smart.co.uk. 10 March 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
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- ^ Howell, John (August 10, 2009). "Terry Gilliam to adapt Philip K. Dick's The World Jones Made". SFFMedia. Archived from the original on 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
- ^ Fischer, Russ (2011). Terry Gilliam Crafting a Script Based on Paul Auster Novel 'Mr. Vertigo', Slashfilm.com. 28 July 2011
- ^ Connelly, Brendon (2011)."Paul Auster Has Co-Written the Mr. Vertigo Screenplay with Terry Gilliam". Bleeding Cool. 19 August 2011.
- ^ Barfield, Charles (2018). "Terry Gilliam Reportedly Eyeing 'Mr. Vertigo' For His Next Film, Starring Ralph Fiennes". The Playlist. 29 June 2018.
- ^ Franklin, Garth (2018). "Gilliam's Next Could Be "Mr. Vertigo"". Dark Horizons. 1 July 2018.
- ^ Lambie, Ryan (14 July 2014). "Laika Chasing Terry Gilliam for an Animated Film". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ^ Mathews, Jack (3 January 1986). "DIRECTOR GILLIAM SPINS TALES WITHOUT STRINGS". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ a b Lyttleton, Oliver (14 March 2013). "5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'". IndieWire. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Freer, Ian (3 February 2006). "Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Review". Empire. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Lang, Brent (October 14, 2021). "Barry Sonnenfeld on the 30th Anniversary of 'The Addams Family' and Turning Down 'Forrest Gump'". Variety. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
I will tell you that there were two other directors approached — Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam — and they're both really good choices. But they both turned it down, so that's how I ended up getting it.
- ^ Fagerholm, Matt (5 July 2018). "KVIFF 2018: TERRY GILLIAM DREAMS THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Scott, Ryan (9 July 2018). "Terry Gilliam Trashes Alien Franchise, Said No to Directing Sequel". MovieWeb. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Sherlock, Ben (10 October 2019). "Like A Box Of Chocolates: 10 Wild Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Forrest Gump". Screen Rant. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Nilles, Billy (6 July 2019). "A Low-Balled Author, a Star With No Salary and a "Successful Failure" at the Box Office: 25 Forrest Gump Facts". E! News. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Reynolds, Simon (24 May 2015). "Mel Gibson pranks, historical blunders and Jason Patric: 20 facts about Braveheart". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (17 July 2019). "11 Things You Never Knew About 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'". Moviefone. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Carroll, Larry (13 October 2006). "TERRY GILLIAM ON DEPP, 'POTTER' AND THE FILM HE PANHANDLED TO PROMOTE". MTV News. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ "Terry Gilliam's Harry Potter Regrets". Contactmusic.com. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2019.