Terry Gilliam further cemented comparisons between himself and Orson Welles this week. According to a report from Entertainment Weekly, U.S. studios refused to pony up a measly $15 million for an upcoming Johnny Depp/Robin Williams project. Based on Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's book, Good Omens would star Williams as an angel and Depp as a demon. Like Welles and all manner of maverick filmmakers through the ages, Gilliam sparked interest with overseas investors and managed to scrape up $45 million starting money. But the U.S. completion money was nowhere to be found.Meanwhile, Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm has only performed modestly at the box office, coming in at #2 with a weekend gross of about $15 million. Like many of Welles' productions, The Brothers Grimm fell under the unkind scissors of those less talented -- this time producer Harvey Weinstein -- and the conflict shows in the final film. Not to mention that Weinstein "dumped" the film in August, where unwanted films go to die.
Fortunately, there is hope. Gilliam has another film coming out later this year, Tideland, and he is optimistic about finishing his Don Quixote.
| :: posted by Jeffrey M. Anderson, 8/30/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
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