Hollywood is preparing to give the Penn State controversy the movie treatment. According to numerous reports, the film will be directed by Brian De Palma and star Al Pacino as the disgraced football coach.
According to UK publication The Guardian, the film is entitled "Happy Valley" and will detail Paterno's entire life and not just the controversial finish. It is based on Joe Posnanski's bestselling biography, Paterno.
Paterno was forced to retire from college football in 2011 after a scandal broke out asserting that he failed to alert proper authorities that his defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was sexually abuse young boys on school grounds. Paterno died in 2012 after his heroic reputation was forever disgraced.
This is not the first time Pacino has played a football coach in his career. He played a coach in Oliver Stone's 1999 "Any Given Sunday." He also played historical figures in "Angels in America" and "You Don't Know Jack." This will be the third time that Pacino and De Palma work together. They teamed up for the hugely popular "Scarface" and "Carlito's Way."
Pacino is currently slated to star in the title role of a new adaptation of Shakespeare's "King Lear". His other films "Despicable Me 2," "Imagine," and "Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father" are all in production. De Palma's last film "Passion" premiered at the Venice Film Festival this past fall.