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'Sweeney Todd' Producer Richard Zanuck

Fresh Air
Published December 13, 2007 at 11:00 AM EST
Richard Zanuck has produced an impressive list of hits, and a number of flops, as well — including a string of musical disasters that got him fired by his own father.
Gareth Cattermole
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Richard Zanuck has produced an impressive list of hits, and a number of flops, as well — including a string of musical disasters that got him fired by his own father.

Richard Zanuck grew up on movies — literally. The son of legendary producer Darryl F. Zanuck, who founded and ran Twentieth Century Fox studios in Hollywood's golden era, he became an Oscar-winning producer himself. His latest project: Sweeney Todd, the big-screen version of the legendary Stephen Sondheim musical.

Zanuck's credits include Driving Miss Daisy, Jaws, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict Rules of Engagement, and many more. Besides which, "I can mention a lot of pictures I'm unhappy about," he tells Terry Gross.

Zanuck also ran Twentieth Century Fox for a short time; he talks with Terry Gross about growing up on the studio lot, about working with Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton on Sweeney, and about why Steve McQueen didn't end up starring in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

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