Beyond the Sea (film) intended to produce and direct a biopic based on the life of Bobby Darin with funding from his own production company, Baltimore Pictures. With writer Lewis Colick, Levinson pitched the idea to Warner Bros. Pictures, who agreed to co-finance "The Bobby Darin Story" and cover distribution duties. Producer Arthur Friedman, a fan of Darin's work, began to laboriously negotiate for crucial music licensing rights with Darin's ex-wife, Sandra Dee; his son, Dodd; and former manager Steve Blauner. Colick wrote the first draft in 1987 before Warner Bros. and Levinson commissioned rewrites from Paul Attanasio and Paul Schrader. Their scripts, which
Rebel in the Rye Luckinbill would produce the film along with Bruce Cohen, Jason Shuman, and Strong. On August 31, 2015, Nicholas Hoult was cast in the biopic to play Salinger, and the film was re-titled as "Rebel in the Rye". On January 19, 2016, Kevin Spacey joined the film to play Whit Burnett, a lecturer at Columbia University, editor of the "Story" magazine, and a mentor of the young Salinger. On February 12, 2016, Laura Dern, Brian d'Arcy James, and Hope Davis signed on to star in the film for unspecified roles. On March 9, 2016, Zoey Deutch joined the film to play