Gilliam Set to Tilt at Windmills With McGregor and Duvall

Terry Gilliam has revealed to Empire Online that Ewan McGregor has signed on for his long delayed film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

McGregor will portray the role that Johnny Depp had originally been set to play in the aborted version back in 2000.  Gilliam was forced to scrap that production due to a freak storm on the Spanish set, which was documented in the film, Lost in La Mancha.  Depp was set to play the role again for this latest attempt, but scheduling conflicts with Pirates of the Caribbean 4 has forced Gilliam to replace him.

Ewan will be joining Robert Duvall. Duvall replaces Jean Rochefort who had the part in the 2000 attempt.  Gilliam is thrilled to have these two actors on board the film and had this to say: “Robert Duvall is one of the greats, no question – and he can ride a horse. And Ewan has gotten better over the years. He was wonderful in The Ghost.”

“There’s a lot of colours to Ewan that he’s not been showing recently and it’s time for him to show them again. He’s got a great sense of humour and he’s a wonderful actor. He’s wonderfully boyish and can be charming – when he flashes a smile, everybody melts. He wields it like a nuclear bomb.”

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is set to go before cameras in September. No word yet on a release date.