Johnny Depp appears in Richard D. Zanuck biopic to air on TCM next spring

A documentary about Richard D. Zanuck’s amazing career, “Don’t Say No Until I Finish Talking,” will air on TCM next May, following a premiere at TCM’s film festival in Hollywood in April 2013. The documentary includes interviews with many of Mr. Zanuck’s collaborators, including Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Ron Howard, Sherry Lansing, William Friedkin, and Johnny Depp.

The film’s director, Laurent Bouzereau, told The Hollywood Reporter that Mr. Zanuck was able to view a full-length cut of the documentary only three days before his death: “He called me immediately after viewing it to tell me how happy he was with the result and that he couldn’t wait to see me at lunch on Friday and, as he said, ‘look at [you] in the eyes and tell you how touched I am.’ I got the tragic news that Dick had left us early Friday morning. I realize it’s very little comfort, but he did get to see all the love and admiration that everyone featured in the piece had for him, and that in itself is a miracle.”

Turner Classic Movies is currently airing a brief memorial tribute to Mr. Zanuck in which the legendary producer spoke about his devotion to storytelling. “The most important thing is the story: not the script, but the story,” Mr. Zanuck said. He expressed hope that movies would return to character-based storytelling: “There’s great entertainment value in smaller, intimate, personal stories.”

The Zone thanks Emma for sharing the news; you can read more about the Richard D. Zanuck documentary on the Zone’s Porch General Discussion forum.