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Recent Headlines
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Domino is
a "disarmingly
straight-forward"
work that "pushes
us to reexamine our
relationship to images
and their consumption,
not only ethically
but metaphysically"
-Collin Brinkman

De Palma on Domino
"It was not recut.
I was not involved
in the ADR, the
musical recording
sessions, the final
mix or the color
timing of the
final print."

Listen to
Donaggio's full score
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De Palma/Lehman
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in Snakes

De Palma/Lehman
next novel is Terry

De Palma developing
Catch And Kill,
"a horror movie
based on real things
that have happened
in the news"

Supercut video
of De Palma's films
edited by Carl Rodrigue

Washington Post
review of Keesey book

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Exclusive Passion
Interviews:

Brian De Palma
Karoline Herfurth
Leila Rozario

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AV Club Review
of Dumas book

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Wednesday, January 16, 2013
PRESSMAN, PACINO, DE PALMA TEAMING UP
FOR 'HAPPY VALLEY', THE NOW-CONTROVERSIAL STORY OF PENN STATE COACH JOE PATERNO
Well, I thought there was some reason Brian De Palma had suddenly dropped out of the Jason Statham Heat remake a few weeks ago. Looks like he was cooking up something big with two of his old friends. Deadline's Mike Fleming broke the news today that De Palma will reteam with Al Pacino for Happy Valley, "the working title of a film that will tell the story of Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno," according to Fleming. The focus of the film is being kept under wraps for now, but Fleming writes that "Paterno’s legend was undone by revelations he and others in the football program were aware that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was molesting children, and did little to stop it, supposedly fearing bad publicity for the powerhouse gridiron program they presided over."

Happy Valley is being co-produced by Edward R. Pressman, who produced De Palma's Sisters and Phantom Of The Paradise. Pacino's manager, Rick Nicita, will also produce, along with Joe Posnanski, who wrote the book Paterno, which has been optioned by Pressman. The project is backed by the Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation. Fleming adds that David McKenna, who wrote the scripts for American History X and Blow, as well as for the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours, is making a deal to write the screenplay. "Happy Valley reunites the Scarface and Carlito’s Way team of De Palma & Pacino for the third time," Pressman told Deadline, "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."

Last September, Fleming reported that Pacino was attached to play Paterno. At that time, Nicita was named as the producer, and the project was being shopped around. In that September post, Fleming wrote, "The narrative arc of the movie that will be shopped is obvious. A man becomes the winningest coach in college football history and builds a powerhouse football program that turns him into a campus deity. When his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is revealed to be a pedophile and it comes out Paterno was told and helped hide the scandal, the coach was summarily fired. He died shortly after of cancer — and many feel of a broken heart — 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 is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison."

Fleming was soon flooded with e-mails, and updated the post with this:

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"UPDATE: Rarely have I gotten so many emails on a story that has struck a nerve among former students of Penn State. Some claiming to have clout in Hollywood say they will try to squash this project, and others are critical of me and defensive of the beloved Paterno, claiming he got a raw deal. I can’t imagine these apologists have kids. The idea that nobody acted seriously on information given by grad assistant and later assistant coach Mike McQueary that could have stopped a predator convicted on dozens of counts of molesting vulnerable children is unconscionable. Paterno defenders say that McQueary was vague in describing what he saw, but I fall on the side of those who feel that Paterno was so powerful at Penn State that he could have stopped this in its tracks had he chosen to follow up, or even if he had dialed three numbers: 911. McQueary certainly wasn’t vague in his testimony at Sandusky’s trial, saying he was sure he had stumbled upon Sandusky engaging in a sexual act with an underage boy. When I think of great college coaches, I wonder: what would someone like Bobby Knight have done if given the same information?

"The administration at Penn State chose to protect its cherished powerhouse and lucrative football program, and went against the contract that any institution of higher learning has, which is to protect the young and vulnerable. The idea that this just somehow happened, and nobody but Sandusky was to blame, is something I will never embrace. Had that been the case, I doubt the university would have fired Paterno and later torn down his statue, or that the NCAA would have leveled devastating sanctions against the football program at the expense of current players who had absolutely nothing to do with any of this and who didn’t deserve punishment that was delivered to send a clear message about prioritizing what is important. Regretfully, that is Paterno’s enduring legacy now. But keep the emails coming!"

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In today's report, Fleming writes:

"There are so many themes to deal with here, from Paterno’s rise and his loyalty to a football program he spent his life building, to the obvious question of how a molder of young men could possibly have stood silently by when told that one of his former coaches started a charity for underprivileged kids and used it as a way to ingratiate himself into vulnerable young fatherless boys for sexual encounters? The failure of Paterno and university officials to act allowed Sandusky to continue molesting boys for years, which was borne out in court testimony leading to his conviction and incarceration. Posnanski was working on a book about Paterno and was well into it when the scandal broke. The book is as much about what made Paterno tick as anything else, and capturing complex characters is something Pacino does well. He played a conflicted pro football coach in Any Given Sunday, and Jack Kevorkian in the HBO film You Don’t Know Jack."

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Pacino also plays the title role in the David Mamet-written-and-directed HBO film Phil Spector, which premieres in March.

Posted by Geoff at 5:19 PM CST
Updated: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 8:45 PM CST
Post Comment | View Comments (6) | Permalink | Share This Post

Thursday, January 17, 2013 - 4:32 AM CST

Name: "Sergio (Tipping My Fedora)"
Home Page: http://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/

I really hope this works out - it sounds like just the kind of tough subject that Pacino and De Palma, with all their experience, should be tackling as their third project. They've proven how fearles they can be and one suspects this will be necessary.

Thursday, January 17, 2013 - 3:06 PM CST

Name: "Arni"

Wow! A switch from Statham and fun to Pacino and controversial issue. Not a bad switch!

Friday, January 18, 2013 - 5:18 AM CST

Name: "Randy Aitken"

The Happy Valley story is topical and timeless - a Greek tragedy for the 21st Century. The sickness of the Sandusky wound is still fresh in the consciousness of our country. Whereas there was more than a ten year gap between the real life tragedy that would have been depicted in De Palma's Yablonski project which was never mounted, this will be an opportunity for BDP to direct a "straight" project that has relevance and gravitas. I can only imagine the audience reaction to De Palma's product placement when the screen shows Sandusky's book TOUCHED. Unleash the corrosive vision Mr. De Palma!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - 5:43 AM CST

Name: "rado"
Home Page: http://rado.bg

Great reunion news. But I got no idea what the film will be like from all the confusing info. A respectable guy feeling sorry because he didn't turn over his colleague? Sounds like a state of mind, not an action. How does dramaturgy work here? Terrence Malik ethereal style? Yell

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - 9:03 PM CST

Name: "Geoff"
Home Page: https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma

But Rado, there's more than just "feeling sorry" here a la Malick-- there is the tarnished reputation of a cherished man that goes beyond just the man himself, but encompasses a whole, somewhat isolated way of life for an entire community. There will be drama, and football.

Thursday, January 24, 2013 - 6:15 AM CST

Name: "rado"
Home Page: http://rado.bg

Thanks Geoff, this summary sounds good. You should be the official publicist :)

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