According to reports Justin Hawkins, the ex-lead singer of the Darkness, and Carl Barat, the ex-guitarist for the Libertines, have signed up for a biographical film of the famous music producer Joe Meek called Telstar.

Meek is particularly well known for his work with The Tornados' and their song Telstar. At the time he was seen as somewhat of an oddity as he mixed his electrical knowledge with production and did such things as compressing the audio of a track, against the artists wishes, and resulting in a major hit. Not only that but he built a studio in his house which he above a leather goods shop.

You can read all about Joe Meek over at Wikipedia, and although it's not mentioned explicitly, there's a fair chance that the film will base itself on the novel of his live The Legendary Joe Meek, The Telstar Man (Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com).

Perhaps the most interesting part of the casting rumour from Digital Spy is that Kevin Spacey has agreed to play the role of a financial supporter of Meek, a man with the surprisingly apt name of Major Banks.

I thought that this might be a joke at first, or a fishing attempt to get Kevin Spacey on board, then a little bit of digging brought out this story from Variety way back in July that I found through The Beat.

This week, Spacey joined the cast of "Telstar," which started filming Monday in London. Meek is the gay, tone deaf songwriter-producer who produced hits including "Have I the Right," "Just Like Eddie," "Johnny, Remember Me" and the instrumental "Telstar." Con O'Neill reprises his stage role as Meek; Spacey plays his financier, Major Banks.

"It's exciting to be part of my first British ensemble film," Spacey said.

Wow I missed that one then. The film is based on the stage play which was written by James Hicks, he also wrote the screenplay which Nick Moran is directing, and it's his first outing as Director. You'll recognise him much more for his acting career in Lock Stock and such.