Al Pacino to play ex-Penn State coach Joe Paterno in biopic

Actor Al Pacino will play late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in a biopic tentatively titled "Happy Valley." Brian De Palma will direct. The two have experience working together as they teamed up for "Scarface" in 1983 and "Carlito's Way" in 1993.

Wall Street producer Edward R. Pressman optioned Paterno, the book the Happy Valley screenplay will be based on, NBC News reports. ''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 intensely tragic flaw," Pressman said. In November 2011, Joe Paterno and Penn State president Graham Spanier were fired over how they handled a child sex abuse scandal. Just a little over two months later, Paterno died of lung cancer at the age of 85. In June 2012, Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of sexual abuse. In October, he was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.