The Zanuck Company

Last updated
The Zanuck Company
FormerlyThe Zanuck/Brown Company (1972–1988)
Type Private
Industry Production company
FoundedJuly 10, 1972;51 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$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 $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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warner Bros.</span> American entertainment company

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Founded in 1923 by four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation, television, and video games, and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Tandy</span> English actress (1909–1994)

Jessie Alice Tandy was an English actress. Tandy appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for playing Blanche DuBois in the original Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948, also winning for The Gin Game and Foxfire. Her films included Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, Cocoon, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Nobody's Fool. At 80, she became the oldest actress to receive the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Driving Miss Daisy.

<i>Driving Miss Daisy</i> 1989 drama film by Bruce Beresford

Driving Miss Daisy is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on his 1987 play of the same name. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his role from the original Off-Broadway production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darryl F. Zanuck</span> American film producer (1902–1979)

Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors. He produced three films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture during his tenure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major film studios</span> United States film production and distribution companies with high output

Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the major film studios, often known simply as the majors or the Big Five studios, are commonly regarded as the five diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 80 to 85% of U.S. box office revenue. The term may also be applied more specifically to the primary motion picture business subsidiary of each respective conglomerate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amblin Entertainment</span> American film production company

Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1980. Its headquarters are located in Bungalow 477 of the Universal Studios backlot in Universal City, California. It distributes all of the films from Amblin Partners under the Amblin Entertainment banner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard D. Zanuck</span> American film producer (1934-2012)

Richard Darryl Zanuck was an American film producer. His 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Zanuck was also instrumental in launching the career of director Steven Spielberg, who described Zanuck as a "director's producer" and "one of the most honorable and loyal men of our profession."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Brown (producer)</span> American film and theatre producer (1916–2010)

David Brown was an American film and theatre producer and writer who was best known for producing the 1975 film Jaws based on the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Uhry</span> American playwright and screenwriter (born 1936)

Alfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has received an Academy Award, two Tony Awards and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing for Driving Miss Daisy. He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

A studio system is a method of filmmaking wherein the production and distribution of films is dominated by a small number of large movie studios. It is most often used in reference to Hollywood motion picture studios during the early years of the Golden Age of Hollywood from 1927 to 1948, wherein studios produced films primarily on their own filmmaking lots with creative personnel under often long-term contract, and dominated exhibition through vertical integration, i.e., the ownership or effective control of distributors and exhibition, guaranteeing additional sales of films through manipulative booking techniques such as block booking.

The Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment to manage its motion picture operations. It was launched in 1998 by integrating the businesses of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. and TriStar Pictures, Inc.

<i>The Charge of the Light Brigade</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by Michael Curtiz

The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1936 American historical adventure film from Warner Bros., starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. It was directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Samuel Bischoff, with Hal B. Wallis as the executive producer. The film's screenplay is by Michael Jacoby and Rowland Leigh, from a story by Michael Jacoby, and based on the 1854 poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The music score was composed by Max Steiner, his first for Warner Bros., and the cinematography was by Sol Polito. Scenes were shot at the following California locations: Lone Pine, Sherwood Lake, Lasky Mesa, Chatsworth, and Sonora. The Sierra Nevada mountains were used for the Khyber Pass scenes.

Film Ventures International (FVI) was an independent film production and distribution company originally located in Atlanta, Georgia, during the 1970s. FVI garnered a notorious reputation within the industry for producing films that were highly derivative of many blockbusters of the era. The company mainly specialized in producing and distributing B movies and horror fare.

Milton Sperling was an American film producer and screenwriter for 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., where he had his own independent production unit, United States Pictures.

<i>The Sun Also Rises</i> (1957 film) 1957 film by Henry King

The Sun Also Rises is a 1957 American drama film adaptation of the 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel of the same name directed by Henry King. The screenplay was written by Peter Viertel and it starred Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, and Errol Flynn. Much of it was filmed on location in France and Spain as well as Mexico in Cinemascope and color by Deluxe. A highlight of the film is the famous "running of the bulls" in Pamplona, Spain and two bullfights.

The Razzie Award for Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst film adapted from some form of previous material. The category covers films that are prequels, sequels, remakes, reboots, spin-offs, film adaptations of other media franchises, mockbusters and "rip-offs".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Zanuck</span> American film producer

Dean Francis Zanuck is an American production executive and film producer.

Brown Holmes was an American screenwriter who worked for several major Hollywood studios in the 1930s and 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lili Fini Zanuck</span> American film director and producer

Lili Zanuck is an American film producer and director.

The 10th Stinkers Bad Movie Awards were released by the Hastings Bad Cinema Society in 1988 to honour the worst films the film industry had to offer in 1987. As follows, there was only a Worst Picture category with provided commentary for each nominee, as well as a list of films that were also considered for the final list but ultimately failed to make the cut.

References

  1. "Zanuck Leaves Warner To Form Own Concern". The New York Times. 1972-07-10. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  2. "Zanuck, Brown to join Universal on Monday". The Los Angeles Times . 1972-08-04.
  3. Martin, Douglas (2012-07-13). "Richard Zanuck, Producer of Blockbusters, Dies at 77". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  4. ""Jaws" released in theaters". HISTORY. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  5. Mathews, Jack (1990-03-09). "Zanuck Co. Signs 'First Look' Deal With Paramount Pictures". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  6. Scherger, Charles (1980-04-09). "Lyrical New Highway to Hollywood". The Los Angeles Times .
  7. McLellan, Dennis (2010-02-02). "Producer of 'Jaws,' 'The Sting,' 'Cocoon'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  8. McCarthy, Todd (1983-04-20). "Zanuck-Brown Spurn Fox-Trot Lot; Move Production Shop to WB". Variety . p. 3.
  9. "Zanuck/Brown Inks A Deal with MGM". Variety . 1986-02-12. p. 5.
  10. Easton, Nina J. (1988-12-13). "Zanuck, Wife Forming Film Development Company". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  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.