Terry Gilliam has had such headaches in trying to fund his last few projects that he’s hinted about retirement. However, back in April, fansite Gilliam Dreams had reported that the director was set to direct a new film, titled “The Carnival at the End of Days.”
It turns out that, yeah, Gilliam does want to direct ‘Carnival’ as his next feature, but the problem is — let me know if you’ve heard this one before — he can’t find the funding for it .. That’s what Gilliam told a Lumière Film Festival crowd in October jokingly asking if anyone had Elon Musk’s number.
We do have an update, and it’s really good news. Gilliam is eyeing Johnny Depp to play the role of Satan in ‘Carnival at the End of Days.’ He’s actually really confident that Depp will be a part of the film (via Variety).
Why is this good news? Because Depp’s inclusion opens up the possibility of Gilliam actually getting European funding for this film — Depp is still a very big name in Europe. In a recent French interview, Gilliam revealed that the budget for this film would be around $30 million dollars. Here’s Gilliam describing the plot of ‘Carnival’:
This is a simple tale of God wiping out humanity for fucking up his beautiful garden Earth. There’s only one character who’s trying to save humanity and that’s Satan, because without humanity he’s lost his job and he’s an eternal character and so to live without a job is terrible. So he finds some young people and he tries to convince God that these young people are the new Adam and Eve. God still gets to wipe out humanity. It’s a comedy.
Gilliam already spoke about this project last september in this interview. He mentioned working with a "young screenwriter” on the script and that final draft had, more or less, been completed. That screenwriter might actually be Christopher Brett Bailey, 33.
The last time Gilliam directed a feature was 2018’s “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” a film he was trying to make for more than two decades. It came and went without much excitement, although I thought it was his — de facto —best film since the late ‘90s.
That is essentially the reason why Gilliam can’t seem to find funding for his projects. His films of the last 25 years have been both critical and commercial misfires. Risking $30 million on this legendary filmmaker is not going to be a walk in the park for any producer. Depp’s presence will help.
Many forget just how important and vital a cinematic voice Terry Gilliam was during his peak years, especially when he was battling Universal for the final cut of his 1985 masterpiece, “Brazil.” He’s given us other great films over the years, including “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “12 Monkeys.”
Still no distributor for "Bucking Fastard," "Alpha Gang," "The Last Photograph," "Closing Night," and "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd." The issue seems to be quality more than a lack of willingness to buy.