Up Next for HBO: Al Pacino as Phil Spector
By
October 12, 2010
PACINO (LEFT, COURTESY OF THOMAS SCHULZ) AND SPECTOR.
HBO can’t seem to offer Al Pacino a sympathetic character. First, there was reviled, closeted lawyer Roy Cohn in the 2003 miniseries version of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, a role for which Pacino won a Golden Globe. Next came controversial assisted-suicide advocate Dr. Kevorkian in this year’s You Don’t Know Jack, which garnered him an Emmy. And now it’s been announced that Pacino will play record producer Phil Spector, the man responsible for the “Wall of Sound” technique used on “Be My Baby,” “Good Vibrations,” and the Beatles’ Let it Be… and who’s currently serving 19 years to life in prison for murdering actress Lana Clarkson.
The film will be written and directed by David Mamet, and executive-produced by Barry Levinson (Diner, Rain Man, Good Morning, Vietnam). Pacino and Spector have a lot in common: both are 70 years old, both were born in New York City, and both have pretty much the same face. We’re hoping Pacino will produce a record in order to get into character, win a Grammy for it, and complete his showbiz awards grand slam.
