HBO Films temporarily suspended production because Midler is reportedly suffering from a herniated disc and has pulled out of the film on "doctor's orders." Writer-director David Mamet (American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow, Race) and HBO said that the part played by Midler will be recast.

Midler was attached to the project as Linda Kenney Baden, a defense attorney who represented the music producer (who will be played by Tony Award winner Al Pacino) during his first trial for murder.

The film will focus on the relationship between Banden and Spector. Spector produced records by girl groups of the 1960s and later produced for Ike and Tina Turner, The Beatles, John Lennon and more.

Mamet, Pacino and Barry Levinson are executive producers.

Midler won a special Tony Award in 1974 for "adding lustre to the Broadway season" and began on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof. Midler is also a producer of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, currently running on Broadway at the Palace Theatre.