Cameron Crowe cancels Phil Spector biopic starring Tom Cruise

In the late 1990s director Cameron Crowe began developing a biographical film about music producer Phil Spector, intending to cast Tom Cruise in the lead role. Crowe, Cruise, Spector and music executive Allen Klein met at Spector’s New York home, where Crowe described the atmosphere as heavy and filled with memorabilia of artists such as John Lennon. The planned movie was to conclude with the 1966 recording and release of "River Deep – Mountain High" by Tina Turner.

Crowe later decided the story contained a darkness he felt unable to portray. He told Cruise he was not the right person to direct the project and abandoned the script, weeks before Spector was convicted of the murder of actress Lana Clarkson. The biopic was never produced.