Al Pacino May Play Joe Paterno in a Movie

So when you casted that Penn State movie in your head, did you have Al Pacino as candidate to play Joe Pa? I did.

Deadline.com reports that Pacino may play Paterno in a movie that is currently being shopped in Hollywood based on Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski’s recent biography, Paterno. More:

The narrative arc of the movie that will be shopped is obvious. A man becomes the winningest coach in college football history and builds a powerhouse football program that turns him into a campus deity. When his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is revealed to be a pedophile and it comes out Paterno was told and helped hide the scandal, the coach was summarily fired.

Interestingly, the first movie to be made here could focus on Paterno, not the Sandusky allegations themselves. From a storytelling perspective, that might be the better feature film – hero coach turned enemy – instead of a near docudrama about the facts surrounding Sandusky and his crimes (that might be better reserved for TV). 

Deadline.com admits that it’s still very early in the process, so don’t expect to see the movie anytime soon. If it gets made at all. The real challenge, I suppose, will be filming it before Pacino joins Joe Pa at the big crusty, Italian guy lounge in the sky.