It's one of the weirdest courtroom images ever captured: legendary record producer Phil Spector looking like a member of the Hair Bear Bunch, sporting an enormous frizzy Afro wig while on trial for murder.

Phillip V. Caruso / HBO

Helen Mirren and Al Pacino in a scene from the upcoming HBO movie about Phil Spector.

Now Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino is the one wigging out, as he dons a similar hairpiece for a scene in the upcoming HBO movie, "Phil Spector." Next to Pacino, and almost unrecognizable herself thanks to dowdy clothes and hair, is Helen Mirren as Spector's attorney, Linda Kenney Baden. Famed playwright David Mamet wrote and directed the film.

The movie became controversial in 2011 due to rumors that it is sympathetic to Spector, who was convicted of Lana Clarkson's 2003 murder in 2009. Mirren defended the film when a group of Clarkson's friends protested, saying, "Lana was obviously a really, really lovely woman and, quite rightly, her friends are worried that she will be dissed and she is certainly not dissed in our story at all."

"Phil Spector" airs March 24 at 9 p.m. on HBO.

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Larry Hagman's J.R. Ewing made an indelible mark on television history. His final episodes on the new version of "Dallas" start this week. More familiar faces: Keri Russell has a new show, and Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin have a new movie.

Slideshow: Larry Hagman: 1931-2012

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MONDAY: 'Dallas' returns
J.R. Ewing was one of television's most captivating villains on the original run of "Dallas," and he was the reason the show's return in 2012 was so well-received. The cowboy hat-wearing oil baron was conniving and charming, and it's impossible to imagine anyone but Larry Hagman playing him. Now that Hagman has died, the show must bid farewell to J.R. in a deserving manner. He couldn't ever be recast. The cast and crew of the new "Dallas" have promised to make his on-screen funeral one to remember. Happy trails, J.R. ("Dallas" returns with the first of Hagman's final two episodes Jan. 28, 9 p.m., TNT.)

WEDNESDAY: 'The Americans'
FX's new show, "The Americans," has a delightfully creepy, if dated, premise. Back in the 1980s, the KGB has settled a bunch of its agents in the U.S. as sleeper agents, even with unsuspecting families. Keri Russell (hi, Felicity!) and Matthew Rhys are a spy couple with kids who don't suspect Mom and Dad are Reds. USA! USA! (Premieres Jan. 30, 10 p.m., FX.)

FRIDAY: 'Stand Up Guys'
They're senior-citizen criminals, geezer gangsters. In "Stand Up Guys," Al Pacino and Christopher Walken play old buddies in crime who team up once Pacino gets out of prison, and also meet up with their former getaway driver, Alan Arkin. Reviews are mixed -- some critics think it's an unfunny slog of Viagra jokes -- but those are three veteran stars who command attention. (Opens Feb. 1.)

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Al Pacino, left, and Joe Paterno.

The film that will tell the story of the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is beginning to take shape. Al Pacino is attached to play Paterno in the biopic tentatively titled "Happy Valley," and Brian De Palma will direct, De Palma's agent confirms to NBC News.

Pacino and De Palma have quite a bit of history together, having teamed up for 1993's "Carlito's Way" and 1983's "Scarface." In a statement to NBC News, "Wall Street" producer Edward  R. Pressman, who optioned "Paterno," the book the "Happy Valley" screenplay will be based on, talks about the legendary actor/director duo.

"'Happy Valley' reunites the 'Scarface' and 'Carlito’s Way' team of De Palma and Pacino for the third time and I can’t think of a better duo to tell this story of a complex, intensely righteous man who was brought down by his own tragic flaw," Pressman said.

The project is still in the development stages; no script has been completed yet.

Paterno, who died Jan. 22, 2012, was in his 62nd year on the coaching staff at Penn State when the university relieved him of his coaching duties amid the scandal surrounding assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky was ultimately sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison for abusing 10 boys he met over 15 years through his charity for troubled children.

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