First revealed last year, this is one of those projects that seemed too good to be true and when word around it died as quickly as it arrived, we figured that it wasn’t coming along. Guess we were (thankfully) wrong.
Variety reports that Bette Midler and Jeffrey Tambor have both come aboard what will surely be a highly charged HBO film about legendary music producer and convicted murderer Phil Spector. Penned by David Mamet who will also direct, with Al Pacino taking on the lead role (amazing), the film will chronicle the relationship between Spector and his defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden (Midler). Tambor will play Bruce Cutler, another member of the defense team. Spector was put on trial in 2007 for the murder of actress/model Lana Clarkson. The first trial ended in a mistrial, but in the second he was found guilty and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison.
The Spector case (and his hair) was certainly one of the most high profile celebrity cases in recent memory, and one both bizarre and tragic. The thought of Pacino taking on the role gives us goosebumps and it will be interesting to see if Mamet employs his trademarke pacing of dialogue in the film. Pacino is an old hand at working with Mamet’s words, with his memorable turn in “Glengarry Glen Ross” but Midler and Tambor may be in for a crash course.
The project is still said to be “in development” but with a cast like this coming together, that status is likely to change very soon.