The Zanuck Company

Last updated
The Zanuck Company
FormerlyThe Zanuck/Brown Company (1972–1988)
Company type Private
Industry Production company
FoundedJuly 10, 1972;52 years ago (1972-07-10)
Founders David Brown
Richard D. Zanuck
Headquarters Beverly Hills, California
Key people
(CEO)
Lili Fini Zanuck
Products Motion Pictures, New Media

The Zanuck Company (formerly The Zanuck/Brown Company) is an American motion picture production company. It is responsible for such blockbusters as Jaws , The Sting , Cocoon , Driving Miss Daisy , Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland .

Contents

History

The Zanuck/Brown Company

In 1972, after a successful partnership at both 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown, left to form their own production company, The Zanuck/Brown Company. [1] Later that year, Zanuck/Brown signed a five-year production deal with Universal Pictures. [2]

In 1974, Zanuck/Brown produced The Sting , starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Robert Shaw. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. [3]

In 1975, Zanuck/Brown produced Jaws , directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss. The film, which won three Academy Awards, became the first summer blockbuster. It was number 1 at the box office for fourteen consecutive weeks and made history as the first motion picture to gross more than $100 million. [4]

In 1979, Lili Fini Zanuck joined the company and was instrumental in developing many of its future film projects. [5]

In 1980, The Zanuck/Brown Company moved to 20th Century-Fox [6] where it produced The Verdict , starring Paul Newman and James Mason, followed by Cocoon , directed by Ron Howard and starring Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Steve Guttenberg, Jessica Tandy, and Linda Harrison. [7] On April 20, 1983, after he spent three years working at 20th Century-Fox, feeling it was "unhappy" with the agreement, the duo had moved to Warner Bros., and the new Zanuck-Brown agreement enabled the organization to produce two and a half films per year and the team will go directly to then-Warner executive Robert A. Daley. [8] After three years working at Warner Bros., the duo shifted ties to production studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, for an overall production agreement whereas the upcoming Z/B projects gave them access to MGM's slate. [9]

The Zanuck Company

In 1988, Richard Zanuck partnered with producer/financier Jerry Perenchio and rebranded as The Zanuck Company.

In 1989, The Zanuck Company produced Warner Bros' Driving Miss Daisy , starring Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, and Dan Aykroyd. [10] The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. [11]

In 1994, The Zanuck Company produced Paramount's Deep Impact , starring Morgan Freeman, Robert Duvall, and Vanessa Redgrave. [12] Other hits followed such as DreamWorks' Road to Perdition , starring Paul Newman, Tom Hanks, and Daniel Craig, 20th Century Fox's Planet of the Apes , starring Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, and Helena Bonham Carter, and Columbia Pictures' Big Fish , starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, and Jessica Lange, the latter two films being directed by Tim Burton. [13] [14]

Other productions by The Zanuck Company are Warner Bros' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street , Dark Shadows , and Alice in Wonderland , all of which were directed by Tim Burton and star Johnny Depp. [15]

In 2010, Alice in Wonderland became the first motion picture from The Zanuck Company to exceed $1 billion at the box office. [16]

Filmography

Theatrical films

1970s

Release dateTitleDirectorDistributorNotesBudgetBox office (worldwide)
July 18, 1973 Sssssss Bernard L. Kowalski Universal Pictures first film$1.03 million$1 million
December 19, 1973 Willie Dynamite Gilbert Moses N/A
December 25, 1973 The Sting George Roy Hill winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture; co-production with Bill/Phillips Productions
Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2005
$5.5 million$159.6 million
March 30, 1974 The Sugarland Express Steven Spielberg $3 million$12 million
May 17, 1974 The Black Windmill Don Siegel co-production with Siegel Films $1.5 millionN/A
August 16, 1974 The Girl from Petrovka Robert Ellis Miller N/A
May 21, 1975 The Eiger Sanction Clint Eastwood co-production with The Malpaso Company $9 million$14.2 million
June 20, 1975 Jaws Steven Spielberg Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2001$472 million
July 15, 1977 MacArthur Joseph Sargent $16.3 million
June 16, 1978 Jaws 2 Jeannot Szwarc $30 million$208 million

1980s

Release dateTitleDirectorDistributorNotesBudgetBox office (worldwide)
June 13, 1980 The Island Michael Ritchie Universal Pictures $22 million$15.7 million
December 18, 1981 Neighbors John G. Avildsen Columbia Pictures $8.5 million$29.9 million
December 8, 1982 The Verdict Sidney Lumet 20th Century Fox $16 million$54 million
June 21, 1985 Cocoon Ron Howard $17.5 million$85.3 million
November 8, 1985 Target Arthur Penn Warner Bros. co-production with CBS Theatrical Films $12.9 million$9.02 million
November 23, 1988 Cocoon: The Return Daniel Petrie 20th Century Fox last film released under the Zanuck-Brown name$17.5 million$25 million
December 15, 1989 Driving Miss Daisy Bruce Beresford Warner Bros. first film released under the name of The Zanuck Company; winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture $7.5 million$145.8 million

1990s

Release dateTitleDirectorDistributorNotesBudgetBox office (worldwide)
December 22, 1991 Rush Lili Fini Zanuck MGM/UA Distribution Co. co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $17 million$7.2 million
October 29, 1992 Rich in Love Bruce Beresford $18 million$2.2 million
May 6, 1994 Clean Slate Mick Jackson N/A$7.4 million
December 1, 1995 Wild Bill Walter Hill co-production with United Artists $30 million$2.1 million
April 26, 1996 Mulholland Falls Lee Tamahori co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Largo Entertainment $29 million$11.5 million
August 2, 1996 Chain Reaction Andrew Davis 20th Century Fox co-production with Chicago Pacific Entertainment $50 million$60.2 million
May 8, 1998 Deep Impact Mimi Leder Paramount Pictures (North America)
DreamWorks Pictures (International)
co-production with Amblin Entertainment and The Manhattan Project $80 million$349.5 million
March 19, 1999 True Crime Clint Eastwood Warner Bros. co-production with Malpaso Productions $55 million$16.6 million

2000s

Release dateTitleDirectorDistributorNotesBudgetBox office (worldwide)
April 7, 2000 Rules of Engagement William Friedkin Paramount Pictures co-production with Scott Rudin Productions and Seven Arts Pictures $60 million$71.7 million
July 27, 2001 Planet of the Apes Tim Burton 20th Century Fox $100 million$362.2 million
July 12, 2002 Reign of Fire Rob Bowman Buena Vista Pictures co-production with Touchstone Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment $60 million$82.2 million
Road to Perdition Sam Mendes DreamWorks Pictures (North America)
20th Century Fox (International)
$80 million$181 million
December 10, 2003 Big Fish Tim Burton Sony Pictures Releasing co-production with Columbia Pictures and The Jinks/Cohen Company$70 million$123.2 million
July 15, 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Warner Bros. Pictures co-production with Plan B Entertainment and Village Roadshow Pictures $150 million$475 million
December 21, 2007 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Paramount Pictures (North America)
Warner Bros. Pictures (International)
co-production with DreamWorks Pictures and Parkes/MacDonald Productions$50 million$153.4 million
December 19, 2008 Yes Man Peyton Reed Warner Bros. Pictures co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures and Heyday Films $70 million$223.2 million

2010s

Release dateTitleDirectorDistributorNotesBudgetBox office (worldwide)
March 5, 2010 Alice in Wonderland Tim Burton Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures co-production with Walt Disney Pictures, Roth Films and Team Todd $150–200 million$1.025 billion
April 2, 2010 Clash of the Titans Louis Leterrier Warner Bros. Pictures co-production with Legendary Pictures and Thunder Road Pictures $125 million$493.2 million
May 11, 2012 Dark Shadows Tim Burton co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures, Infinitum Nihil and GK Films $150 million$245.5 million
May 30, 2014 Maleficent Robert Stromberg Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures co-production with Walt Disney Pictures and Roth Films $180–263 million$758.5 million
September 15, 2015 Hidden The Duffer Brothers Warner Bros. Pictures uncredited; co-production with Vertigo Entertainment N/A$310,273

Television films/pilots

Release dateTitleDirectorNetworkNotes
July 9, 1987 Barrington Richard Compton CBS as The Zanuck/Brown Company; co-production with New World Television
August 21, 1992Driving Miss Daisy Will Mackenzie co-production with Warner Bros. Television
2004Dead Lawyers Paris Barclay Sci-Fi co-production with Sony Pictures Television
May 16, 2015 Bessie Dee Rees HBO co-production with HBO Films and Flavor Unit Entertainment

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References

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  4. ""Jaws" released in theaters". HISTORY. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
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  6. Scherger, Charles (1980-04-09). "Lyrical New Highway to Hollywood". The Los Angeles Times .
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  9. "Zanuck/Brown Inks A Deal with MGM". Variety . 1986-02-12. p. 5.
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  11. Reinhold, Robert (1990-03-27). "'Driving Miss Daisy' Wins 4 Oscars, Including One for Jessica Tandy". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  12. Collins, Keith (2005-07-13). "Milestones". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  13. "Home". zanuckco.com.
  14. "Road to Perdition". 10 December 2002.
  15. "Tim Burton On Dick Zanuck's Passing". Deadline. 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  16. Bettinger, Brendan (2010-05-27). "Disney's ALICE IN WONDERLAND Becomes the Sixth Film Ever to Surpass $1 Billion Worldwide". Collider. Retrieved 2020-06-22.