A two-part HBO documentary about the life and career of comedy icon Mel Brooks has entered into production.
The documentary will be directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, and will arrive as a co-production between the former’s Apatow Productions and HBO Documentary Films. Via an official press release from Max, the documentary will be “an expansive yet intimate look at one of comedy’s most hilarious and influential minds, whose work has had audiences around the world laughing for more than 70 years.”
Apatow, who previously collaborated with Bonfiglio for another HBO comedy documentary George Carlin’s American Dream, expressed reverence for Mel Brooks’ work in a statement. “I went into comedy because of my love for Mel Brooks,” Apatow said. “This project is the dream of a lifetime.”
Mel Brooks has been the subject of several documentaries over the last few decades. PBS produced an installment of American Masters about the comedian titled Mel Brooks: Make a Noise in 2013, and HBO offered a more personal look at Brooks’ life and career with the 2019 documentary Mel Brooks: Unwrapped. Brooks also published a memoir in 2021 titled Mel Brooks: All About Me!; pick up a copy here.
Now 98-years-old, Mel Brooks is choosing his projects very carefully — he did, however, make an enjoyable return to television with The History of the World, Part II, which arrived on Hulu last year. Brooks is also reportedly producing a sequel to Spaceballs starring Josh Gad.