Much like Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, the film Divine Rapture is one of those legendary films that is famous for not existing. While production actually began in the summer of 1995, with an amazing cast that included Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp, Debra Winger and John Hurt, it was eventually revealed that the escrow account for CineFin, the production company behind the movie, didn't exist. With no money to continue and only 24 minutes of footage shot, production was halted and never started up again. But nothing lasts forever, right?
The Belfast Telegraph is reporting that Divine Rapture may actually get a second life. Producer Barry Navidi, who worked for six years to get the project off the ground in the mid-90s, is now saying that within the next six month he plans to try and make the film once again. There is a catch, though: ""It will be essentially the same story but this time called Holy Mackerel and with different stars," Navidi said. In fact, the producer already has one actor in mind, as he wants to cast Geoffrey Rush in the role that Brando was to play (getting Brando to come back was always going to be a bit difficult, but since 2004 those odds have decreased dramatically). The comedy, which is about a priest who believes in miracles, plans to return to Ballycotton, Ireland - where they filmed the first time.
It's kind of scary how many parallels there are between Gilliam's failed project and this one. Both had documentaries created about the problems with production - Lost in La Mancha and Ballybrando - and Johnny Depp was even rumored for Gilliam's reboot that was announced a couple years ago. Speaking of which, do you remember what happened to that reboot? It tanked just like the director's first attempt at making the movie. What I'm trying to say is that neither you nor Navidi should get their hopes up about resurrecting Divine Rapture.
