Brian De Palma to Direct Al Pacino as Joe Paterno in 'Happy Valley'
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The director-actor duo will reunite for the third time in the biopic project after they previously teamed up in 'Scarface' and 'Carlito's Way'.

AceShowbiz - Veteran director Brian De Palma will reunite with his "Scarface" actor, Al Pacino, for his next project. Deadline reports that the original "Carrie" director is set to team up with Pacino in a Joe Paterno biopic to be called "Happy Valley".

The story will be based on bestselling book "Paterno" by Joe Posnanski with Dave McKenna approached to pen the script. The project will be produced by Edward R. Pressman and Pacino's manager Rick Nicita.

" '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 says of the project.

Joe Paterno is a former Penn State head football coach who became the "winningest" coach in the history of college football. He built a powerhouse football program that turns him into a campus deity.

When his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was revealed to be a pedophile and it came out Paterno was told and helped hide the scandal, the coach was summarily fired. He died shortly after of cancer.

Many people felt of a broken heart following his death, and the school had little choice but to raze a fabled statue of Paterno just as the NCAA dropped the hammer with sanctions against the school that included removal of Paterno's wins going back to the cover-up. Sandusky was found guilty on 45 counts of sexual abuse against young boys and was expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.

As for De Palma, the 72-year-old filmmaker is best known for his suspense and crime thriller films such as "Carrie", "Mission: Impossible", "Femme Fatale" and "The Black Dahlia". His most recent work was last year's "Passion", which stars Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams.

Pacino, meanwhile, will soon make his animated debut by lending his voice to a villainous character in "Despicable Me 2".

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