Well, it was less than a week ago when Bette Midler suffered a herniated disc and on doctor’s orders was forced to pull out of David Mamet‘s Phil Spector biopic he has brewing for HBO. Production was put on hold as a replacement needed to be found quick and damn, did this movie ever step up its game big time.
Sorry Bette, we love you, but with Deadline reporting that Helen Fucking Mirren is now aboard if we were anticipating this movie before, we’re flat out excited for it now. Penned by Mamet, the film will chronicle the relationship between Spector (played by Al Pacino) and his defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden (Mirren) when Spector was put on trial in 2007 for the murder of actress/model Lana Clarkson. Or to put this another way: Pacino + Mirren = fucking yes. It will be the first time the pair will be in a film together and it will be interesting to see where their two wildly different approaches to their craft meet, and what the on screen presence and chemistry they have will be like. But yeah, talk about trading up.
Filming on the production will kick back into gear next week and it looks like the four-time Emmy winner Mirren has another great chance to take home a statue. No word yet on when this will air, but look for it in 2012.
Trading up indeed.
Love the Divine Miss M (I still think her perf in \”The Rose\” is amazing ) but, Mirren is in a different league altogether.
Yeah, I\’m psyched for this.