In a casting coup for producer Robert Lantos and his Serendipity Point Films, Dustin Hoffman has joined the cast of Barney’s Version.

The Academy Award-winning actor will star opposite Paul Giamatti in the adaptation of the acclaimed novel by CanLit great Mordecai Richler.

Hoffman will play foul-mouthed retired cop Izzy — the father of Giamatti’s character Barney Panofsky, an aging writer/producer who reflects on his fast and loose life. Richard J. Lewis (CSI) is directing from an adapted screenplay by Michael Konyves (Fire & Ice, Storm Cell).

‘I saw The Graduate when I was in University. It was a seminal event in my life. Ever since and through all of Dustin Hoffman’s remarkable work, I have fantasized about making a film together some day,’ commented Lantos in a Wednesday release.

Production gets underway in Rome on Aug. 17, with other shooting set for Montreal and New York. Barney’s Version is produced by Toronto-based Serendipity Point in association with Italy’s Fandango and Montreal’s Lyla Films.