Jack O'Connell in Talks for Terry Gilliam's 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'

If there's one actor everyone sees as a future star, it's Jack O'Connell. He's already caught a lot of attention after acclaimed performances in Starred up and '71, not to mention his first blockbuster turn in 300: Rise of an Empire, but the biggest is yet to come when he stars in Angelina Jolie's WWII drama, Unbroken. And now he's being looked at to join Terry Gilliam's long-developing, deeply troubled The Man who Killed Don Quixote.

According to Baz Bamigboye of Daily Mail, O'Connell is in talks to be a new cast member on the film, which has been in the works for more than two decades and faced incredible problems. The source is apparently co-star John Hurt, who says filming could begin next fall. We'll see about that. This would be a very different version of the film than when Johnny Depp was originally attached. Now the story takes place in contemporary time rather than in the 17th century, and follows a man who made a Don Quixote film at some point in his career, and the effect it had on people was decidedly negative.

So...John Hurt and Jack O'Connell? It's a promising duo, and O'Connell could give this film the star power boost it sorely needs. Still, who knows if 'Don Quixote' will really happen or not. The smart money is probably on "no" at this point.

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We'll See: Terry Gilliam Says His 'Don Quixote' Will Shoot Next Year

For more than twenty years Terry Gilliam has, rather comically and tragically, been trying to get his The Man Who Killed Don Quixote off the ground. For reasons too vast to go through here and better explained in the documentary Lost in La Mancha, the production hit every conceivable stumbling block and even had star Johnny Depp frustrated. But Gilliam, whose new film The Zero Theorem hits VOD this month, has been vigilant and now he says financing is secured with a start date for next spring. Gilliam tells ThePlaylist...

Gilliam: “I’m surprised that I’m still this stupid and pig-headed. I thought by now I would have learned something, but I haven’t. So [‘Quixote’] is what we’re working on again. The plan was to shoot in October, but I had to push it because of the [‘Monty] Python’ show. I had to shift everything so it’s planned for next spring time, I have a Spanish producer who is doing deals with a couple actors whose names will not be mentioned.”

After so many disappointments with this project over the years Gilliam's attitude towards the whole project seems to have taken a negative turn...

Gilliam:  “We’re told we have the money. We’ll see. I don’t believe anything anymore....Excited is the wrong word for it. I’m just trying to get it out of my fucking system. It’s driven my crazy for so long and I just want to get it done. I keep rewriting it, that’s key, but if feels vaguely fresh. It’s a very weird sensation, but I do know once I get into it the fun will start.”

The script has undergone some substantial changes and he tells The Wrap it will now be a modernized, meta story that seems to be less about Don Quixote and more about his own troubled experiences making the movie....

Gilliam:  “I keep incorporating my own life into it and shifting it. The basic underlying premise of that the version Johnny was involved in was that he actually was going to be transported back to the 17th century, and now it all takes place now, it's contemporary. It's more about how movies can damage people...Our main character actually made a Don Quixote movie a lot earlier in his history, and the effect it had on many people wasn't very nice. Some people go mad, some people turn to drink, some people become whores.”

Hey, I'm with Gilliam on this one in not believing anything until I see it.

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