Terry Gilliam, a long list of missed appointments
English director Terry Gilliam is known as much for the films he made as the projects he didn’t complete. We owe it in particular to him Monty Python: Holy Grail, Brazil AND The Army of the Twelve MonkeysOR Las Vegas paranoid AND The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. And then there are the loose ends, like adaptation Guardians in 1996 and the same year The flawed detective, which was supposed to reunite Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis and Cameron Diaz. Above all, it is there the films he rejectedsome of which were made by others and were very successful.
Among these projects declined by Terry Gilliam, we include The Addams Familyfinally directed by Barry Sonnenfeld in 1991. A few years later, he turned down the offer to direct Forrest Gumpand that to Brave heart…She was also the first choice of JK Rowling and the producers the first Harry Potter film, which Warner Bros. studios rejected, preferring Chris Columbus. Not very inclined towards the industrial method applied to franchising, also out of resentment, at the end of the 2000s he refused the offer to produce Harry Potter and the halfblood Prince.
But there is one film in particular that Terry Gilliam rejected and later admitted to he regretted this decision : the cult film that combines live action and animation Who wants Roger Rabbit’s skin?
The director refuses due to “laziness”
Initially, the adaptation of Gary K. Wolf’s 1981 crime novel seemed like the perfect project for Terry Gilliam. In fact, he began his career as an illustrator, caricaturist and designer. Particularly gifted-he worked mostly in the mid-60s Rene Goscinny for the magazine Pilot –his talent in drawing led him to work in several publications in England before becoming animator for the shows and series of the actors with whom he will train the Monty Python troupe. He therefore becomes, in addition to the role of host, actor, screenwriter and director.
His solo career took him away from Monty Python and directed in the 1980s Bandits, bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. So, when the proposal comes to fruition Who wants Roger Rabbit’s skin?, the animator-turned-director refuses. He explained it like this in 1996 to Empire magazinediscussing the volume of work and its new relationship with animation:
I rejected this, but it had no consequences (for the studios, ed.), because at that time only the book still existed, and I didn’t want to go back to animation. I just read the novel and said, “This is just too much work.” It was pure laziness on my part.
Terry Gilliam says he regrets this decision and we can understand that. Although Who wants Roger Rabbit’s skin? would have been a necessarily different film from the one we know, directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg, its association between family entertainment and film noir corresponded perfectly to the world of the directoras creative and inventive as it is dark and pessimistic.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
