Jack O'Connell (300: Rise of an Empire) has landed the lead role in Don Quixote, director Terry Gilliam's long-planned adaptation of the classic novel by Miguel de Cervantes, Variety reports.

O'Connell will play a disenfranchised commercial director who embarks on a strange road trip through Spain after being gifted a copy of a mysterious student film. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas screenwriter Tony Grisoni handled the adaptation.

The film will be Gilliam's seventh attempt to bring a version of the Don Quixote story to life. "Seven is my lucky number," Gilliam said, "so let's break the curse and make it!" We reported on one of Gilliam's previous attempts in 2010, but it fell apart when the film's financing collapsed.

O'Connell, whose credits include Skins, This Is England and Starred Up, will next be seen in Angelina Jolie's war drama Unbroken.

Production on Gilliam's Don Quixote is expected to begin in spring 2015 for a May 2016 release date.