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
The Beyond (film) the basement of the hotel. They move forward through the flooded labyrinth and stumble into a supernatural wasteland. No matter which direction they travel, they find themselves back at their starting point. They are ultimately blinded just like Emily and hear a voice say "And you will face the sea of darkness, and all therein that may be explored". The film then fades out to reveal the land looks exactly like Schweick's painting. John Thonen of "Cinefantastique" noted "The Beyond" as having "a story structure akin to that of an advanced fever dream." Film scholar Wheeler Dixon similarly notes this