Not a good look Al! Pacino is the spitting image of Phil Spector in hideous afro wig

Who's the guy walking around Brooklyn, New York in the hideous afro hairpiece? It's Al Pacino channelling convicted killer Phil Spector for an as-yet titled biopic.

The legendary actor is currently filming the HBO movie about Spector in New York City.

Wearing an out-of-control grey afro style wig, Pacino looked uncannily like the troubled music producer on set yesterday.



All in a day's work: Al Pacino channelled convicted music producer Phil Spector on the set of an HBO movie yesterday in Brooklyn, New York



The 71-year-old Godfather star sported a similar hair piece to one that Spector wore during court proceedings in May 2005 and even identical clothes to the convicted killer.



As previously reported by Mail Online, controversy has surrounded the movie, which is being made by HBO, the studio behind True Blood, The Wire and The Sopranos.



Dame Helen Mirren, who plays Spector's lawyer Linda Kenney Baden , has been threatened with awards snubs and worse for refusing to pull out of the film.

Uncanny: Pacino is the spitting image of Spector, even wearing the same outfit that Spector donned during a court appearance in May of 2005



Friends of Lana Clarkson, who Spector was found guilty of shooting dead in 2009, are protesting the project, which is being directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, director and Spector supporter David Mamet, 68.

Mamet believes Spector was wrongly jailed for murder and Clarkson's friends and family members fear the movie could be sympathetic to the convicted killer.



The movie, which is about the relationship between Spector and Baden, has been filming in Long Island and Manhattan for the past month but the group Friends of Lana Clarkson are furious about it.

Mad-haired: The movie about music man Spector will focus on the relationship between the convicted killer and his lawyer Linda Kenney Baden



They have enlisted Hollywood publicity agent Edward Lozzi to organise a protest campaign and claim to have influential supporters who will stop actors who take part in the project from being considered for prestigious awards.

Spector is serving 19 years to life after being convicted in 2009 of shooting 40-year-old Miss Clarkson, an aspiring actress at his mountaintop home six years earlier.

The eccentric producer, who worked on The Beatles’ final album Let It Be in 1970 also allegedly terrorised other women, holding them hostage at gunpoint.

Tragic: Lana Clarkson was shot and killed by Spector at his home in 2003

But Spector's lawyer, Baden, claims there is evidence Miss Clarkson was so depressed by setbacks in her career that she used a revolver owned by Spector to shoot herself.

However, Lozzi said The Friends of Lana Clarkson were ‘dismayed’ at Dame Helen’s involvement in the film.

Mr Lozzi described the film as ‘an insensitive attempt to portray the loathsome, lying, gun-abusing convicted murderer of our friend Lana Clarkson with some kind of sympathy’.

Mr Lozzi – a press aide to former US President George Bush – said that his group would mount a boycott of HBO unless the studio drops the project.

Under attack: Dame Helen Mirren, seen on set earlier this week, has come under criticism for taking part in the controversial HBO project



And he warned that influential backers would lobby judges of the Emmy awards, asking them not to consider Dame Helen or any other actors who take part in the film for awards.

‘Helen Mirren probably didn’t know about The Friends of Lana Clarkson when she agreed to take the role – it would have been just another job to her. But now that she is aware, we ask her to examine her conscience.’

The group has sent a letter to Dame Helen, warning the 66-year-old, who won a 2007 Oscar for her portrayal of the Queen, that she should ‘do the right thing’ and demand script changes or face damaging ‘consequences’ including ‘no Emmy nominations’.

The letter adds: ‘Know that we are very serious.’ Mr Lozzi claims the campaign has already forced Bette Midler – who was initially cast as Mrs Kenney Baden – to drop out, although the actress said she had injured her back. ‘Maybe her back does hurt but I think what persuaded her to quit was she didn’t want to hurt her image,’ Mr Lozzi said.

A giant of music in the Sixties and early Seventies, Spector became increasingly reclusive following a car accident in 1974, in which he almost died.

He suffered serious injuries to his face and the back of his head.

It's the scarring which lead to Spector's habit of wearing outlandish wigs.

As well as the Beatles, Spector is famed for producing the likes of The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers and Ike And Tina Turner.