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Joe Posnanski’s Paterno May Become A Movie With Al Pacino Playing Joe Paterno

Just in case you haven’t had enough of the Penn State scandal (note: you haven’t), you’ll soon be able to see it in movie form (hopefully). According to Deadline, a movie is in the works about Joe Paterno and Joe Posnanski’s recent book, Paterno.

Here’s more from Deadline (via Last Angry Fan):

“ICM Partners next week will be taking a package for a movie about former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, with Al Pacino attached to play the man called JoePa by most students at Happy Valley. The package will be built around Joe Posnanski’s biography Paterno, which is now atop The New York Times Bestseller List in its second week. Pacino’s manager, Rick Nicita, will produce.”

Though this movie seems destined for box office success, it’s hard to imagine it being widely hailed as a classic. Al Pacino’s rendering of Joe Paterno’s character, coupled with the details of JoePa’s life and involvement in the scandal must all be portrayed, and those portrayals will necessarily reinforce the line of division between JoePa supporters and detractors. Ultimately this just seems like another beacon of controversy waiting to happen. Then again, Al Pacino is always fun.

[Deadline, via Last Angry Fan]

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