Rob Reiner is shooting a documentary about Albert Brooks and he’s lined up some major heavyweights to wax poetic about the filmmaker, actor and all-around comic genius.
The director tells Variety that he’s already talked to or is planning to interview fellow comedians such as Larry David, Conan O’Brien, Sarah Silverman, Ben Stiller, James L. Brooks, Judd Apatow, Chris Rock, Wanda Sykes and Jonah Hill, as well as Sharon Stone, who worked with Brooks on 1999’s “The Muse.”
“Albert is my really, really close friend,” says Reiner. “I’ve already spent half-a-day with Albert, just the two of us talking and doing things.”
Brooks is an Oscar-nominee for his work in hits such as “Broadcast News” and “Drive.” He has also written and directed such classics as “Modern Romance” and “Lost in America.”
Reiner talked to Variety in advance of the Cannes Film Festival where he is screening “This Spinal Tap,” as well as presenting an upcoming sequel to the film to buyers. It’s a busy time for Reiner, who recently relaunched his company Castle Rock Entertainment, which was behind such hits as “In the Line of Fire” and “The Shawshank Redemption,” with a $175 million film fund. Upcoming projects include a sequel to 2017’s “Wind River” and a movie about Bert Berns, the songwriter behind such classics as “Here Comes the Night,” “Hang on Sloopy,” and “Cry to Me.” Reiner wrote the screenplay for the Berns project, which will be called “Piece of My Heart,” after another one of Berns’ great songs.
“He only lived to 38,” says Reiner. “But between the ages of 30 and 38, he wrote and recorded 250 songs. The list of hits is just insane and he had a really interesting life.”