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There isn’t such a thing as ‘too soon’ in Hollywood. It is being reported that Al Pacino will be cast as the former legendary head coach of Penn State football in a film centered around the Sandusky scandal that changed the life of many and rocked the world of sports.

Hit the break for more details.

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According to Deadline, the proposed project will be based on Paterno, a biography written by Joe Posnaski, which is currently a bestseller just two weeks after its release.

While it will focus a bit on Paterno’s life before Penn State, it will heavily revolve around his rise to iconic proportions in Happy Valley, and his subsequent fall as a result of the Jerry Sandusky investigation.

Sandusky, Paterno’s longtime defensive coordinator for Penn State from 1977 until his retirement in 1999, had been sexually abusing young boys during and after his coaching tenure. He was convicted on 45 of 48 charges in June 2012 and faces a maximum of 442 years in prison.

Paterno, who was Penn State’s head coach from 1966 to 2011 and won 409 games and 2 national titles, was reported to have been aware of Sandusky’s conduct, even going so far as to help cover it up in 2001. He was fired by the university in 2011 and, as a result of the Sandusky investigation, had 111 of his wins posthumously scratched from the record books. He had been the winningest college football coach in history but now officially stands at 298 wins. Furthermore, his highly respected legacy had been deeply tarnished.

Pacino is no stranger to playing longtime head coaches, as he played 33-year veteran Tony D’Amato, the head coach of the Miami Sharks in Any Given Sunday. If played right, this could potentially be a role that nets him a future Oscar nomination.

Considering that the subject matter is still a hot button topic, it shouldn’t be too long before the proposed project gets picked up.

[Deadline]