Viner is the president of New Millennium Press, publisher of Hughes.

PW: Richard Hack, author of Hughes, credits you with the book's existence. What was your role in the creation of this book?

MV: It was my concept to do this. A long time ago I'd gotten Richard together with Bob Maheu [Hughes's longtime "alter ego," as Hack puts it], and he co-wrote Maheu's autobiography. I chose him for that because Hack had a close relationship with Noah Dietrich (Hughes's earlier right-hand man).

PW: Why did you think it would be interesting to do yet another Hughes bio?

MV: The previous ones had all been incomplete and were told through somebody's specific point of view. There was room for an ultimate book on Hughes. The Maheu book was terrific, but it covered only the Vegas years. Many of the other books had been based on rumor. Quite frankly, i enjoyed most of them. But now enough time had passed to put Hughes's story into historical context, if you could get all the information and get everybody to talk who hadn't talked before. It was a 10-year project. From his screenplays and from his work at the Hollywood Reporter for 14 years, I've always felt that, with the right project, Richard could be in the forefront of this country's authors—in a league with Scott Berg. I think that in this book he's pulled it all together. He was born to write this book.

PW: Many members of the younger generations aren't aware of Howard Hughes and his extraordinary life. It's fair to say that his star has faded somewhat. How are you going to handle that?

MV: Certainly we think about that. However, I believe that this book has the possibility of selling a million copies. The best book I've read in the last year was Seabiscuit.

PW: Right. And who knew from Seabiscuit before that book?

MV: I don't think it will be hard to rekindle interest, given the pizzazz of the Hollywood years, which will bring a lot of people to the book. We're starting with a one-hour special on CNN with Larry King. Then the Today Show and then two days of Entertainment Tonight. The press tour is 10 cities. Then the book will stand on its own.

PW: Who's going to appear on the shows? Hack?

MV: Hack is on most of them. Larry King has slated Bob Maheu. That's his first appearance in 10 years anywhere. We're told that Terry Moore, Jane Russell and Yvonne Decarlo will be on. That's on September 10.

PW: Hasn't there been some film interest in a bio of Hughes?

MV: There have been a bunch of Hughes movies announced, and there have been a bunch on the burner. We're now working with Billy Friedkin [director of, among other films, The Exorcist] to develop this.

PW: Who would you like to see play Hughes?

MV: My personal preference, and Deborah's [Deborah Raffin, Viner's wife and also president of New Millennium Press], is Johnny Depp or Ed Norton.

PW: In sum, why is this book important?

MV: It's an ultimate piece of Americana. Hughes's story is unique. No one ever had any idea how absoutely nuts and immoral he was. I idolized him. I, like many people, thought: "what a heroic figure"—when he wasn't. This is the most amazing "phantom of the opera" kind of story. It shows a period of American politics, of Hollywood, tales of money and morality that is, I think, hypnotic.

PW: What other books are on deck for New Millennium Press?

MV: We're doing 12 to 20 books a year. They're in particular niches. We're doing all of the great New York Times bestselling Hollywood books that were out of print. That's certainly a love for us. Once a quarter, we'll have a book that we think can be a big bestseller. Other than Hughes, the biggest of them is Murderer's Row, a collection of original sports mysteries by some big names. The next in that series is Murder on the Ropes, about boxing. We have six more of those, and we've signed people who range from, tentatively, Woody Allen to Nelson De Mille to Dick Francis. We plan to be the dominant player in both mystery anthologies on sports and in show business books. We have a very big book in the spring that has to do with the Mafia on Wall Street. We have a guy who's in the witness protection program. And we've signed Richard Hack for a new book for next September that we're just about as high on as we are on Hughes.