Al Pacino to play ‘Dr. Death’ Jack Kevorkian in HBO pic

Al Pacino has been set to star in an HBO telepic about right-to-die champion Dr. Jack Kevorkian, to be helmed by Barry Levinson. Pic will revolve around Kevorkian’s construction of his infamous “Mercy Machine,” his first assisted suicide in the early 1990s and the resulting media frenzy. Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 as a result of his involvement in an assisted suicide that was videotaped and later shown on TV. He was released from prison in 2007. Script was penned by Adam Mazer. Levinson, Steve Lee Jones, Lydia Dean Pilcher and Glenn Rigberg will exec produce. It’s still unclear if Kevorkian, who last year mounted an unsuccessful bid for Congress in Michigan, will be involved in the production. – From Variety