When the surviving members of Monty Python reunited to celebrate their 40th anniversary with a documentary that aired on IFC in 2009, that was a Monty Python reunion.
When they lent their voices to a documentary about the late Graham Chapman last year, that was a Python reunion of sorts, though not a new Monty Python project itself.
Now that most of them are participating in a new Terry Jones film? Not a Python project.
As Eric Idle explained to fans today via his Twitter @EricIdle: “I’m not “Not in a Python film”. I’m not in a Terry Jones film. If you can’t see the difference then you should probably lie down for a bit.”
Jones is directing a sci-fi movie, Absolutely Anything, that will blend CGI and live action, along with voices from John Cleese, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam. Idle isn’t signed on for this.
“There’s been a lot of silly talk about Python re-unions, and whether a few Pythons doing a few Voice Overs constitute a genuine Monty Python film (duh, of course not) so I thought I’d share what happened the last time there was a real attempt to make a Python Movie. It was in 1997 and I had come up with an idea called The Final Crusade. I liked the idea of a film about a group of grumpy old men being pressured to get back together again for a last quest, as it would allow us to mock ourselves. So I sent them all a draft outline of what such a thing might look like. (See Previous Blog.) Surprisingly there was a very positive response, even from John, so I went down to visit him in Santa Barbara and we had a splendid lunch and then a walk on the beach, and he expressed genuine interest in the idea, enough to encourage everyone to meet up in England. Unfortunately by the time we all got together at a hotel in Buckinghamshire he had changed his mind.”
“When I got back I wrote about it for PythOnline, and here is what I published then.”
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