Al Pacino has been set to star in Billy Knight, an indie drama that will mark the feature film debut of writer-director Alec Griffen Roth. Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton and Diana Silvers (Space Force, Booksmart) will also topline the pic, which begins shooting this week in Los Angeles.

Prominent Productions’ Autumn Bailey-Ford and Cameron Burnett are producing with Sevier Crespo and Amanda Kiely, with Sarah Sarandos, Josh Clayton, Kirk Martin and Our World Films’ Peter Bortel executive producing.

The plot follows grad school students Alex (Heaton) and Emily (Silvers) as they traverse their aspiring careers as filmmakers. Alex is also grappling with the grief of losing his father, a failed screenwriter. The only thing his dad left him was a box of unfinished scripts and a handkerchief with the name “Billy Knight” embroidered on it. Alex embarks on a magical Hollywood adventure to track down the Billy Knight all while navigating the line between fiction and reality.

CAA is repping the film.

“Billy Knight is a love letter to cinema, a fantasy steeped in the history of this great art form,” Roth said. “It’s also the tale of two struggling artists, an introspective struggle of a young man trying to find his voice, and discovering what’s important in life. Having the incomparable Al Pacino and the incredible talents Charlie Heaton and Diana Silvers in the film is a dream come true.”

The Oscar-winning Pacino, who most recently was onscreen in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, is repped by CAA. Heaton is repped by Gersh, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Sloan Offer. Silvers is repped by WME, Entertainment 360 and Jackoway Austen.

Source: Deadline.com