10 Movies That Spent Decades In Development Hell

Is The Man Who Killed Don Quixote the single most cursed movie in the history of Hollywood? Quite possibly.

After nearly 30 years of trying to get his passion project made, Terry Gilliam achieved what many had thought impossible and actually finished the movie, and it even made its long, long, long-awaited premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Had the curse finally been broken? Of course not, Don Quixote now sits in limbo due to a legal dispute with former producer Paulo Branco over who actually owns the rights to the movie.

Gilliam signed his first contract to make Don Quixote in 1990, but after a number of false starts it was canned seven years later. Undeterred, the director persevered and actually had the movie shooting in late 2000 but it was cancelled just weeks later after an incredible run of bad luck that included actors no-showing the set, fighter jets ruining the audio, flash floods, insurance problems and the various health issues affecting lead actor Jean Rochefort, all of which was captured in the fascinating documentary Lost in La Mancha.

Seventeen years after the first attempt, Gilliam announced in March 2017 that shooting on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was underway, and the project wrapped three months later without a single incident. Who'd have thought?

Given a standing ovation at Cannes, probably out of respect for the sheer force of will that got the movie across the finish line more than anything else, Don Quixote was received tepidly by most critics but its doubtful that Terry Gilliam cares that much, he's probably happy enough that he finally got to finish the thing.