Variety is reporting that Al Pacino is set to play former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in an as-yet-untitled film for HBO and director Barry Levinson, which will explore the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal.
The logline for the film reads: “After becoming the winningest coach in college football history, Joe Paterno is embroiled in Penn State’s Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal, challenging his legacy and forcing him to face questions of institutional failure on behalf of the victims.”
Sandusky was an assistant coach working under Paterno, who in 2011 was arrested and charged with 52 counts of sexual abuse between 1994 and 2009. After his conviction, it came to light that Paterno had been aware of Sandusky’s actions and chose to look the other way.
Pacino and Levinson have previously worked together on the 2014 film The Humbling as well as the Jack Kevorkian biopic You Don’t Know Jack from HBO. Levinson was also executive producer on Phil Spector, also for HBO.
Originally published June 8, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
