Al Pacino to Play Joe Paterno in Film About Penn State Scandal

According to Deadline, Al Pacino will portray Joe Paterno in a film about the Penn State scandal. Next week, ICM Partners is shopping around a package for the movie.

Read the original report here. 

The movie will be based on Joe Posnanski's biography Paterno and will be produced by Rick Nicita. 

The story is one the headlines have already written—it centers on a successful college football coach whose former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is uncovered as a pedophile and whose exploits are hidden by Paterno. Following the scandal, the coach is fired, later dying of cancer. Paterno's statue is removed from the school, his wins are stripped, and Sandusky is found guilty on 45 counts of sexual abuse against young boys.

Pacino will next appear on Broadway in Glengarry Glen Ross as Shelly "The Machine" Levene. He has also taken the Broadway stage in The Merchant of Venice Hughie, Salome, Chinese Coffee, American Buffalo, King Richard III, The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, Camino Real and Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?, for which he won a Tony Award.

The Oscar-winning actor's film credits include The Godfather trilogy, Scarface, Scent of a Woman, The Panic in Needle Park, Dick Tracy, Glengarry Glen Ross, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, …And Justice for All, and more.