Gilliam’s ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’ to screen Wednesday

Over the decades, various movie projects have become legendary. Some because of production difficulties ("Apocalypse Now"). Some because major stars died and had to be replaced ("Solomon and Sheba") or revamped ("The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus").

Some, though, earned their legendary status because they were never made. Orson Welles' "The Other Side of the Wind," which was finally was released last year (to wildly mixed but generally favorable reviews), was one. Another was Terry Gilliam's attempt to film his version of "Don Quixote."

Before I go on, note this: Gilliam finally did finish his film, which he titled "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" and which will screen as a special one-night event at 7 p.m. Wednesday at three area locations: AMC River Park Square, and the Regal Cinemas locations at Northtown Mall and Coeur d'Alene's Riverstone Stadium.

This final version of Gilliam's film is the end result of a project that started more than two decades ago. Such actors as Jean Rochefort and John Hurt (both now dead), not to mention Johnny Depp, had been attached to the project. All this was revealed in a 2002 documentary titled "Lost in La Mancha."

The stars of the completed film include Jonathan Pryce, Adam Driver, Olga Kurylenko and Stellan Skarsgård. Pryce plays Quixote, while Driver is a modern-day ad executive who time travels (this is Gilliam, after all) back to the 17th century and meets the crazy old man who mistakes him for Sancho Panza.

The movie plays for one night, though like other special events might earn a separate release later on. But there's no guarantee that will happen.

And this might be Gilliam's last joust against the windmills of cinema.