Al Pacino Brings 'The Humbling' to the Big Screen

The New York Times reports that Al Pacino will star in a big screen adaptation of Phillip Roth's novel, The Humbling.  Pacino is the owner of the motion picture rights.  The story centers on an insignificant stage actor who becomes reinvigorated by a younger woman.  Barry Levinson, Oscar winner for Rain Man and Oscar nominated for Bugsy, rounds out the creative trifecta.  Celebrated publicist Pat Kingsley is also attached.

The film is being adapted by 79 year-old Buck Henry, whose additional credits include The Graduate, the original Get Smart television series and to To Die For, starring Nicole Kidman.

Says Kingsley: "The book is perfect for him [Pacino] because he has a love of the stage and, although he has never personally experienced these feelings, he understands them."

Reportedly, no studio is attached yet. Roth is the recipient of nearly every major writing honor awarded (except the Nobel Prize), including two National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

Al Pacino will return to The Public, where he played Marcus Antonius in Stuart Vaughan's production of Julius Caesar (1988) in Shakespeare in the Park's Merchant of Venice as Shylock next summer. On Broadway, he won Tony Awards for his performances in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? and The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and appeared in Camino Real, Richard III, American Buffalo, Chinese Coffee, Hughie (which he also directed), and two productions of Salome (1992 and 2003). His additional New York stage appearances include The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui, The Local Stigmatic and The Indian Wants The Bronx. He has appeared in more than 35 films, receiving Academy Award nominations for his performances in The Godfather, Serpico, The Godfather: Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, ...And Justice For All, Dick Tracy and Glengarry GLen Ross; he won an Oscar for Scent of a Woman and an Emmy for Mike Nichols' miniseries Angels in America.

 

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