Gilliam goes west

Terry Gilliam's next project is to be a western about the infamous outlaw William H Bonney, aka Billy the Kid.

The Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas and Twelve Monkeys director is to make Anything For Billy, a cowboy adventure from Brokeback Mountain scriptwriter Larry McMurty.

The film will tell the story of an east coast writer who heads into the wild west in search of adventure and comes across Billy the Kid.

This will be one of the outlaw's many screen appearances that first started in 1911 with the film Billy The Kid, although the 1941 version is perhaps better known.

Sam Peckinpah brought the cowboy alive in Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid, starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson in the title roles along with Bob Dylan.

There has even been a film entitled Billy The Kid Versus Dracula and the outlaw featured in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Gilliam's next release is set to be Tideland, starring Jeff Bridges, following last year's The Brothers Grimm. There are also plans for the abandoned film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, originally due to star Johnny Depp, to restart shooting.

The film's battle with the elements and bad luck that saw it called off was excellently chronicled in the documentary film Lost In La Mancha.

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