After this year’s Summer of Death, losing a filmmaking legend like John Hughes got me thinking about how difficult it’s going to be in the coming years as more legendary actors, writers and directors responsible for the films I’ve grown up loving (or discovered recently) start passing away. However, three legendary artists are still alive and kicking as the NY Times reports that Al Pacino, director Barry Levinson and writer/actor Buck Henry are teaming up to adapt Philip Roth’s novel The Humbling, the story of  a deteriorating and increasingly irrelevant actor who finds the possibility of renewal in a younger woman.

Pacino is the one who purchased the rights to the book (his first time optioning one) so that Henry (who wrote The Graduate) could adapt the screenplay for Levinson (who directed Rain Man) to bring to the big screen. It’s sad to note that Pacino’s taking on the role of an increasingly irrelevant actor is somewhat a matter of art imitating life with his more recent career choices (88 Minutes, Righteous Kill) have done little to entertain or inspire audiences into believing in him again. Of course, while he may not have had any great roles in recently, Pacino has already established quite a legacy and has nothing to be ashamed of in the least.

I’m already looking forward to Pacino’s next great role, and this may be it. With Henry and Levinson as the talent behind the page and the camera, it’s definitely got the potential to be the performance of a lifetime.

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