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Al Pacino to star as Penn State’s Joe Paterno in HBO biopic

In this combination photo, actor Al Pacino, left, appears during a photo shoot in New York on Dec. 7, 2012 and Penn State football coach Joe Paterno pauses during a media day press conference at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., on Aug. 8, 2004. Pacino will star as late Penn State football coach in an upcoming HBO biopic directed by Barry Levinson. HBO says the film will focus on Paterno dealing with the fallout from the child sex abuse scandal involving his former assistant, Jerry Sandusky. (Associated Press)
Associated Press

NEW YORK – Al Pacino will star as late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in an upcoming HBO biopic directed by Barry Levinson.

HBO says the film will focus on Paterno dealing with the fallout from the child sex abuse scandal involving his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. The all-time winningest coach in major college football history was fired days after Sandusky’s Nov. 2011 arrest and died two months later at the age of 85.

A report commissioned by the university and conducted by a team led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh concluded that Paterno and three administrators hushed up the allegations against Sandusky. The three administrators were sentenced to jail terms Friday. One of them, former university President Graham Spanier, plans to appeal his conviction.