Al Pacino to play Joe Paterno?

With all of the buzz around Penn State recently, it is no surprise that Hollywood is scrambling to capitalize on it. What is a surprising is that Godfather legend Al Pacino is rumored to be playing the university's most iconic coach, Joe Paterno.

As reported by Deadline, Pacino is slated to star in the film rendition of the New York Time's Bestseller, Paterno, written by Joe Posnanski. Pacino's manager, Rick Nicita, is set to produce the film.

The story follows Paterno's rise to fame; taking Penn State's football program and turning it into a powerhouse, ultimately leading to Paterno's record of being the most winning college football coach ever. The story continues this rise until the outbreak of the Jerry Sandusky molestation claims, which makes a mockery out of the outreach football camp that Paterno set up the camp as a charity.

According to author, Posanski, the book doesn't focus on that singular incident, but rather Paterno's life as a whole; even before Penn State.

According to theHuffington Post, Pacino is continuing his trend of portraying real life characters, having previously played Dr. Jack Kevorkian in the HBO movie You Don't Know Jack and Roy Cohn in the HBO adaptation of Angels in America. Pacino also has previous experience playing football coaches with his iconic role in Any Given Sunday.