Terry Gilliam, the Unlucky Director.

Many of you know Terry Gilliam (if you've heard of him at all) as the Patsy from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I say "if you've ever heard of him" because with his string of bad luck when it comes to making and releasing his movies, it's amazing he's released any of his movies at all. Starting way back in the era of neon and bad fashion, his bad luck streak isn't showing many signs of stopping. Here's a brief recap of his unluckiness, written just for you in a spiffy and chronologically-ordered list.



1985-Brazil. This movie is one of my personal favourites. This is Gilliam's take on Orwell's 1984. Filled with the daydreams of Sam Lowry, adventure, and ducts, this movie is definitely one that you should check out. However, there are many versions and endings to this movie, due to the numerous recuts and re-edits of this movie. Most of these recuts were due to the chairman of Universal Studios at the time, Sid Sheinberg. Now, I'm not going to ruin the movie for you because you need to watch this movie, but it does not have the typical Hollywood ending, mostly because it's not a typical Hollywood movie. Still, Sheinberg continued to pursue the Hollywood version of the movie. Gilliam took action by taking a full-page ad in Variety, asking Sheinberg when he was going to release Brazil. Besides having to wait so long to release his movie, Gilliam said that the stress of trying to finish the movie and release it the way he wanted to made him physically ill and put him into the hospital. Thank goodness he recovered and released his movie, because the "Sheinberg Version" is a real stinker, in my opinion.

1988-The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. This movie was not Gilliam's first movie by any stretch of his vivid and huge imagination, but it certainly marked Gilliam as expensive. This movie went way over budget (it was originally slated to cost $23 million; the actual costs amounted to $47 million), but only made around $8 million in US ticket sales. I haven't seen this movie, but with a plotline involving a Baron telling fantasy stories, all spawned from Gilliam's own head, it's in my movie queue. (Not to mention, for all you Kill Bill lovers out there, this was one of Uma Thurman's first movie roles. She plays Venus in the painting The Birth of Venus.)

1990s-Time Bandits 2. Never heard of it? I didn't expect you to. A Time Bandits 2 was in the works, unfortunately, some of the actors from the first movie had died.

1999-The Man who Killed Don Quixote. This movie was meant to start ten years ago. Gilliam handpicked the "perfect" actor for Don Quixote, Jean Rochefort, who, at being thrilled at the opportunity, even decided to learn English for this role. Unfortunately, he suffered a herniated disc, which was going to postpone production on the film. To add insult to Gilliam's injury, the set was flooded in a storm. This caused Gilliam to cancel the film entirely, resulting in a $15 million insurance claim. Good news though, Gilliam has decided to restart this project, attaching his Python pal Michael Palin to the project. Oh, and did I mention that the lovely Johnny Depp is also attached to this project as well?

2000-Harry Potter. Yes, Terry Gilliam was JK Rowling's first choice to direct the HP series. I think that Gilliam's versions would have been amazing to see, he's a very distinctive director, but the heads of Warner Brothers said Gilliam was too dark for the project. Gilliam has said that he will never direct a HP movie. Such a pity.

2005-Tideland. Terry Gilliam actually took to the streets to panhandle for this movie. Big studios weren't giving him the money [big surprise], so he broke the line at the Daily Show, holding a sign saying "Studioless Film Maker, Family To Support, Will Direct For Food" [sign and Gilliam featured in the video] He managed to earn quite a lot of money for a beggar! He managed to release his movie, and while I liked it, many didn't. You'll have to watch for yourself.




2008-The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. This movie, a fantasy about a man who uses a mirror to take him into three different worlds, was supposed to have Heath Ledger as its main character. Sadly, Heath Ledger passed away last January. Gilliam rounded up three actors he has worked with numerous times before-Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell-and adapted his story to fit. Because Ledger's character is meant to travel into three different worlds, he changed the appearance of the character. Also, unrelated to Gilliam, Depp, Law, and Farrell have said that they will donate the money they make from this film to Ledger's daughter, Matilda. [Tissues anyone?]


Terry Gilliam has many more projects in the works, including A Tale of Two Cities [tried once before, but failed because of budgeting], a Gorillaz movie [yes, those Gorillaz], and a sci-fi flick called Zero Theorem [slated to star Billy Bob Thornton and to begin filming this May].

I'm pretty excited about Gilliam's new projects, as I've been a fan ever since I saw Brazil, but what about you? Who is your favorite director, lucky or unlucky? If I get enough positive feedback, I'll start doing reviews and such more.
Thanks for reading!