A two-part documentary about comedy legend Mel Brooks from directors Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio has been set at HBO.
The HBO Documentary Films and Apatow Productions project, now in production, will trace Brooks’ journey from Brooklyn to Hollywood and Broadway. Joe Beshenkovsky, who last worked with Apatow and Bonfiglio on HBO’s four-hour documentary George Carlin’s American Dream, will edit the documentary.
Apatow promises a career-spanning film about the comedy legend behind classic movie farces and parodies. “I went into comedy because of my love for Mel Brooks. This project is the dream of a lifetime,” the Hollywood writer-director-producer said in a statement.
Brooks’ career began with Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows where he worked alongside the late Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, and Larry Gelbart. That’s after the teenage comedian in the Catskills conquered the entertainment world with his satirical comedy.
Brooks earned an Oscar for his screenplay of the screwball comedy The Producers. He also received Oscar nominations for a song from Blazing Saddles and the screenplay for Young Frankenstein, which he directed and appeared in. Other major credits include Silent Movie, High Anxiety, History of the World — Part I and Spaceballs.
And Brooks, who also co-created along with Buck Henry the classic TV comedy Get Smart, is still working at 98 years of age, including on a sequel to 1987’s Spaceballs, a Star Wars satire film, with Josh Gad attached to star and Josh Greenbaum to direct.
Over a 70-year career, Brooks has done the rare feat of winning an Emmy, a Grammy (for best spoken comedy album for The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000), a Tony Award for his Broadway adaptation of the 1968 film The Producers, and Oscars.
The legendary actor and filmmaker is also the author of the memoir All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business. Apatow’s own movie producer credits include Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Talladega Nights, Knocked Up and Bridesmaids.
Apatow Productions recent projects include the Billy Eichner romantic comedy Bros, Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain and Flipside.
