Kevin Spacey responsible for Darin film

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Kevin Spacey's obsession with Bobby Darin, including impersonating the pop singer, reportedly is responsible for bringing "Beyond the Sea" to the big screen.

The Hollywood actor ended up co-writing the script, producing, directing and starring in the film that took 17 years to make, the New York Times reported Monday.

"It was a movie that couldn't get made. What happens is that sometimes in the Hollywood perception, a movie gets in trouble and then it becomes this thing where you're trying to push the film uphill," said Spacey, who joined the production five years ago.

The film will be released in December after years of starts and stops that included utilizing six top Hollywood writers and 20 producers, in addition to Spacey.

Spacey also gets credit for raising the needed $25 million after Paramount Pictures lost interest in the movie because studio executives wanted Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role.

Spacey did his Darin impersonation at last year's American Film Market, an annual film distribution convention in Santa Monica, Calif., to raise the foreign financing.