Call him Al Pacino, indie filmmaker. The Hollywood Reporter says that “The Insider” thesp’s second directorial foray, “Chinese Coffee,” has been picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight.
The shoestring-budget flick, shot over the course of three years, was financed by Pacino himself. It cast Jerry Orbach opposites Pacino in a story that pivots on a conversation between a struggling New York writer and his mentor.
Before the feature project, Pacino had made his directorial debut in 1996 with “Looking for Richard,” a doc about the Bard.
LET IT BURN: Variety says that Paramount Classics has paid more than $2 million for the domestic distribution rights to “Sidewalks of New York” — a project penned and directed by and starring Edward Burns. The romantic comedy costars Heather Graham, Stanley Tucci and Rosario Dawson.
THE FOURTH MUSKETEER: The Reporter says that French legend Catherine Deneuve is in final negotiations to join the Gary Oldman and Mena Suvari in the indie project “D’Artagnan,” a story about the fourth Musketeer.
COOL LIKE ICE: Rapper-actor Ice-T is joining the cast of NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victim Unit,” the Reporter says.
NO BULL: Actor Ryan O’Neal will play the recurring role of a father in the new TNT series “Bull.” The drama debuts Aug. 15.
