Entertainment

Cannes film festival in court over Terry Gilliam dispute

This year's Cannes Film Festival is kicking off with a legal dispute, as a Paris court weighs whether the festival can show Monty Python star Terry Gilliam's long-awaited film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

Producer is suing Cannes organizers to stop them from showing The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

A Paris court is weighing whether the Cannes Film Festival can show Terry Gilliam's long-awaited film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. (Andy Kropa/Invision/Associated Press)

This year's Cannes Film Festival is kicking off with a legal dispute, as a Paris court weighs whether the festival can show Monty Python star Terry Gilliam's long-awaited film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

Monday's hearing comes on the eve of the festival's opening on the French Riviera. Gilliam's film is scheduled to close the festival May 19.

But Portuguese producer Paulo Branco, who initially worked with Gilliam on the film, claims he has the rights to the movie, and sued Cannes organizers to stop them from showing it.

Portuguese producer Paulo Branco arrives at a Parisian court house Monday. Branco, who initially worked with Gilliam on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, claims he has the rights to the movie and sued Cannes organizers to stop them from showing it. (Michel Euler/Associated Press)

Gilliam, 77, contests Branco's claims.

It's the latest in nearly two decades of headaches for Gilliam's film, plagued by production problems, funding issues and legal woes.

The film stars Adam Driver and Stellan Skarsgard and is loosely based on the classic Spanish novel by Cervantes.