The Zanuck Company was an American film studio owned by film producer Richard D. Zanuck. It is notable for their films like the first two theatrical films of Steven Spielberg, The Sugarland Express and Jaws, The Sting, Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy and pretty much of Tim Burton's live-action output of 2000s and early 2010s, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland.
History
The Zanuck/Brown Company
On July 10, 1972, it was announced that both Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown, who had a successful run at 20th Century Fox, then at a two-year stint at Warner Bros. is setting up their own independent production company. On August 4, 1972, the studio is signing a five-year production deal with Universal Pictures, and it will supervise production of 20 Universal films. Its first film Zanuck and Brown are producing were Sssssss. In 1974, the company's second production, which they presented were The Sting, won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and making it the studio's first hit. After a series of major failures at the box office, its big break came in 1975 when the studio is producing Steven Spielberg's Jaws, which is the first major box office hit scored by the studio and inventing the summer blockbuster genre. The same team would produce a sequel of its own in 1978. Various attempts were produced during his tenure, which included an attempted sequel to Gone with the Wind, and a remake of When Worlds Collide. In 1979, Lili Fini Zanuck joined the studio, after they married in 1978, and he was instrumental in developing their own projects. After an eight-year run at Universal, Zanuck and Brown are moving to 20th Century-Fox in 1980. There he produced Paul Newman's film The Verdict, and Cocoon. Three years later, he left 20th Century Fox and moved to Warner Bros. for a three-year deal. In 1986, they left Warner Bros. without making a picture, and signed a deal with MGM to produce its own projects.
The Zanuck Company
In 1988, Zanuck and Brown decided to dissolve their partnership, and decided to rebrand their studio as The Zanuck Company with Jerry Perenchio as partner. Meanwhile, Brown started its own production company The Manhattan Project. Their first film announced was Driving Miss Daisy. In 1990, Driving Miss Daisy won the Academy Award for Best Picture. That same year, Zanuck signed a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures to release their own films. In 1994, The Zanuck Company signed a production deal with 20th Century Fox to release their own films. There he produced Chain Reaction. In 1998, he reteamed with former partner David Brown to produce Deep Impact. He is producer on one of the six films directed by Tim Burton, including Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, ', Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows. In 2004, Dean Zanuck left the company to start DFZ Productions' In 2010, Alice in Wonderland'' became the only film from the studio to reach the $1 billion mark, prior to Zanuck's passing. On July 13, 2012, Richard D. Zanuck, one of the founders of the company had passed away.
