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The Man Who Killed Don Quixote


MoJames

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So might be a thread, I looked and nothing popped up. Saw this poster on reddit with Gilliam's name attached and got excited. Then I saw the comments. Apparently this is Gilliam's epic and he took a mistep with the producers and is on the verge of losing any and all rights to the film. I love me some Gilliam, but sounds like he hooked up with the wrong guy and it might have killed his movie.

 

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The director's long-gestating passion project lost another court battle this week when a Spanish court ruled in favor of the film’s Portuguese producer Paolo Branco, finding he still owns rights to the pic.

Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and its Spanish producer Tornasol Films lost a court battle this week when a Madrid court ruled in favor of the film’s former Portuguese producer Paolo Branco, finding he still owns rights to the pic.

The court, citing previous cases in England and France, confirmed the validity of the co-production contract signed on May 9, 2016, between Tornasol Films and Branco's Alfama Filmes and Leopardo Filmes, stating there was no basis to allege the Portuguese producer Branco did not fulfill his obligations.

The two sides have battled their case in European courts for months, as Branco sued for breach of contract and sought an injunction to block the release of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote as well as its screening in Cannes. That motion was denied, allowing the film, which stars Jonathan Pryce, Adam Driver and Olga Kurlyenko, to premiere at the festival, where it received mixed reviews.

The Spanish decision comes a month after a French court ruled that Gilliam will have to pay €10,000 ($11,600) in damages to Branco.

Unlike the French case, in which Branco claimed legal rights to the film based on a 2016 contract signed with Gilliam, the Spanish case was brought to court by Tornasol, which sued Branco for monies earned on the film amounting to $121,000.

Gilliam and Branco had a falling out when Branco stopped payments and Gilliam moved forward on production. Branco said Gilliam was in breach of contract; Gilliam contended that the agreement was for production and he didn't own copyright over the script.

"[This decision] confirms the nullity of any contract subsequently established and proves that Alfama Films is the sole owner of all rights to exploit the film, regardless of the medium of exhibition, and 60 percent of worldwide revenues, as  Alfama Films is legally the only international seller of the film,” Branco’s Leopoardo Filmes said in a statement to Portuguese news agency Lusa.

Perhaps now the film, which has been Gilliam's passion projects for decades, can move forward with U.S. distribution. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote's original distributor, Amazon, got cold feet amid the legal turmoil and pulled out on May 9. But the legal fight might not be entirely over yet — the Spanish judgment can be appealed in the next 20 days.

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Reddit Comment - 

The producer (Branco) has a reputation of being a really shitty guy. But he agreed to finance the film for a minimum budget of 16 million euros. Branco then demanded creative control. When he didn’t get it he slashed the budget down then even cut the pay of Palin (Don Quixote) in more than half. Damn near a third of what he agreed to and was promised. Gilliam conceded to get the film done, giving up his own Director and screenwriting pay to Branco. This wasn’t enough and the guy kept trying cut the salaries of more key players, hired his family to work on the movie and forced the shoot to be in digital instead of 35mm. He’s quoted as saying; >”Either you make this film my way, or you irremediably compromise the feasibility of the project and your film is condemned. It will never see the light of day." He didn’t even come up with the budget, told Gilliam to accept all of those conditions (including complete creative control) or he’d fire the entire crew and cancel the picture. Gilliam didn’t accept it so Branco suspended production and Terry kept going with new producers. So what the fuck? Branco did not keep his end of contractual obligations and was not acting as producer during photography at all. I’m shocked this wasn’t immediately thrown out of court. But at least ownership was ruled to be in Gilliam’s favour with a cash settlement.

 

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