Al Pacino to Play Legendary Producer and Convicted Murderer Phil Spector

Don't worry, you didn't just dream that David Mamet had written a screenplay, that he'll direct, based on the Phil Spector murder trials, and that it would star Al Pacino. It's really happening. And Variety now tells us that Bette Midler and Jeffrey Tambor are in on it, too.

Some may remember that legendary record producer Phil Spector was on trial for murder for quite some time in 2007, 2008, and 2009. See, Spector had this lifelong habit of waving guns around - it's telling that the stories people tell to try to downplay these claims tend to come out as "well sure he had a gun, and sometimes he'd wave it around, but he'd never POINT it at anyone" - and eventually one went off where someone was standing. The first trial was eventually declared a mistrial, but the second one got him 19 years in prison, which he is currently serving.

Spector is the mastermind behind the "Wall of Sound" recording technique, and responsible for such classics as "He's a Rebel," "Let it Be," "Unchained Melody," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," "Imagine" and more. He worked with everyone form the Beatles to the Ramones to Ike and Tina Turner and more.

Assuming this gets the greenlight (and this is pretty much what HBO does these days, so I'd count on it), Midler will play defense attorney Linda Kenney, who represented Spector in the first trial. The film is said to focus on their relationship. Tambor would play another attorney on the defense team.

An excellent documentary on the legendary producer called "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector" came out last year, capturing the amazing and prolific early years of Spector's life and career through the strange and twisted reality of his later, reclusive and apparently violent early years.

The documentary doesn't dwell too long on Spector's fascinating public trial, so it will be interesting to see that part of his story re-enacted in dramatic form.

Want to know more about Phil Spector? Watch this clip from the amazing documentary "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector"