Al Pacino, Brian De Palma reteam for “Paterno” bestseller adaptation

PanARMENIAN.Net - Al Pacino and Brian De Palma, who worked together on 1993’s Carlito’s Way and 1983’s now-classic Scarface, are joining forces once again for Happy Valley, a feature about the controversial Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Producer Edward R. Pressman announced that he has optioned the film rights to Paterno, the best-seller by sports journalist Joe Posnanski. Rick Nicita, who is managing a select group of clients through his company RPMedia, also will produce the project, with Anthony Scaramucci serving as exec producer.

The producers are in preliminary discussions with screenwriter David McKenna (American History X, Blow) about adapting the book for the screen.

“Happy Valley reunites the Scarface and Carlito’s Way team of De Palma and Pacino for the third time, and I can’t think of a better duo to tell this story of a complex, intensely righteous man who was brought down by his own tragic flaw,” Pressman said.