Beyond the Sea (film) included Johnny Depp as Bobby Darin, Drew Barrymore as Sandra Dee, Bette Midler as Darin's birth mother Nina and Bruno Kirby as Nina's husband/Darin's right-hand man, Charlie Mafia. Levinson eventually vacated the director's position in favor of "Liberty Heights" (1999); because he was unable to get "Dreamer" into production, Warner Bros. lost the music licensing rights, which reverted to the Darin estate. In March 1999, Dick Clark Productions announced their teaming with Dodd Darin on a biopic, with collaboration from producer Arthur Friedman, who had been developing both "The Bobby Darin Story" and "Dreamer" with Levinson at Warner Bros. since
Beyond the Sea (film) to give an accurate portrayal of the singer. Spacey also kept close relations with the Darin family as a means to know he would treat the film "with respect". He sent letters to that effect to Sandra Dee and son Dodd. Steve Blauner (who is portrayed by John Goodman in the film) also served as a historical consultant. Dodd originally considered Spacey's plan to sing his father's material a sacrilege, but eventually fell into sync with Spacey's deeply empathetic approach to Darin's life. Tom Epperson, who had struck up a friendship with Spacey while writing an early screenplay draft of