Mel Brooks Documentary in the Works from Judd Apatow at HBO

Christian Zilko
·2 min read
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Few names (if any) loom larger over the world of comedy than Mel Brooks. Now, his eight-decade career will be the subject of an upcoming two-part HBO special from co-directors Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio.

The documentary project, which is being produced through Apatow Productions, will reunite the two men with editor Joe Beshenkovsky, who collaborated with them on their recent documentaries “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling” and “George Carlin’s American Dream.”

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“I went into comedy because of my love for Mel Brooks,” Apatow said in a statement announcing the documentary. “This project is the dream of a lifetime.”

While the film does not yet have a title or release date, Brooks’ remarkable career will offer no shortage of material to pull from. After launching his career in the 1950s on the storied writing staff of Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” and collaborating with Carl Reiner on the best-selling “2000 Year Old Man” comedy albums, Brooks went on to write and direct some of the most influential comedic films of the 20th century.

He won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for his 1967 comedy “The Producers” before making classics like “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles,” several of which were adapted into hit Broadway musicals. Brooks is part of the rarified group of entertainers to win an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award) in addition to accolades like his Kennedy Center Honor and recent Peabody Award.

At the age of 98, Brooks continues to keep a busy schedule. In addition to participating in the documentary, he’s also returning to produce a sequel to his 1987 hit “Spaceballs” for Amazon MGM Studios that’s set to star Josh Gad. (There’s no word yet on whether the sequel will fulfill the original film’s promise by titling itself “Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money.”)

While Apatow has not directed a scripted film since the poorly received 2022 COVID comedy “The Bubble,” he has found success as a comedy historian in recent years. Along with Bonfiglio, he has directed a series of acclaimed documentaries about 20th century comedy titans beginning with 2018’s “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling.” He followed that with 2022’s “George Carlin’s American Dream,” with both films winning the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. Apatow and Bonfiglio also directed the 2023 documentary short “Bob and Don: A Love Story,” which explored the long friendship between Don Rickles and Bob Newhart.

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