Terry Gilliam is one of those directors who is fascinating to watch. He’s had an interesting array of films that range from his early days with Monty Python and the Holy Grail to strange films such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and 12 Monkeys.
You may recall how troubled his production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was, as documented in the excellent film Lost in La Mancha, and continues to be. So while waiting on that, he has decided to resurrect another older project that he has had trouble trying to make. Here’s what Gilliam had to say in a recent interview: “I’m just dredging up an old script – the one Richard LaGravenese and I wrote years ago after The Fisher King – The Defective Detective. And we are just snooping around to see if there is any way we can move that one forward…”
The story sounds just like something Gilliam would do. It “follows a private eye as he investigates the disappearance of a young girl. He soon finds that she may have vanished into a fantasy land, one only detailed in story books – a land that he will have to figure his way in and out of if he ever hopes to close the case.” So it sounds like Gilliam wants to return to a fantasy land after having visited a similar arena in his last film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Apparently Gilliam has already tried many times to get The Defective Detective off the ground, but even with talent like Danny Devito, Nick Nolte, Nicholas Cage, and Bruce Willis, he was unable to get the project moving.
Chances are, if it’s something Gilliam really wants to make, it’ll be worth seeing. He has a knack for putting together really odd, but entertaining projects. Looking through his filmography, he’s only hit one really bad note with the disastrous Tideland, but he managed to bounce back with Doctor Parnassus despite the death of one of his stars, Heath Ledger. So will we ever be seeing Don Quixote or Defective Detective? Seeing how determined Gilliam’s been in the past, there’s a good chance he won’t stop until he finally completes his visions.
(Source: The Playlist)