photo credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

Poor Terry Gilliam. The man just wants to make a Don Quixote film but  as one can see in the documentary ‘Lost In La Mancha’, things just haven’t been going his way. Now, the man who was set to play the lead in his film has been tapped to produce his own version of Miguel de Cervantes’ seminal novel.

According to Deadline, Johnny Depp has just closed a deal with Disney to produce a modern day reimagining of Don Quixote under his Infinitum Nihil banner with Christi Dembrowski based on a script written by ‘High Fidelity’ writer Steve Pink and Jeff Morris. Depp’s company has produced films such as ‘Hugo’, ‘Dark Shadows’, ‘The Rum Diary’, and the recently wrapped ‘The Lone Ranger’ starring Depp and Armie Hammer. In addition, the production company has ‘The Night Stalker’ in the pipeline at Disney as well with ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ and ‘Ant-Man’ director Edgar Wright.

The tale of Don Quixote follows Alonso Quijano, an old country gentleman who decides to revive chivalry after reading a number of novels on the subject and becomes so enamored with knighthood that he believes the clearly fictitious stories are reality that he ventures out into the countryside looking for the adventures of a knight-errant. One of the most popular stories of all time, it has been adapted many times, including the musical ‘Man of La Mancha’ and it’s 1972 film adaptation starring the great Peter O’Toole and the beautiful Sophia Loren.

No word yet on if Depp will star in his version of the story, or even what the title is. Based on how Disney tends to be inclined to put the versatile actor in many starring roles for them, as seen in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise, he may take up the mantle of the Man of La Mancha on the big screen yet. As for a director, maybe Depp will have mercy and tap Gilliam for the job.

Have any thoughts on this new adaptation of ‘The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha’? Share your thoughts in the comments below!