Al Pacino expressed interest in portraying Ron Kovic after watching the Vietnam veteran 's televised appearance at the 1976 Democratic National Convention and reading his autobigraphy . He also turned down starring roles in the Vietnam War-themed films '' Coming Home '' ( 1978 ) and '' Apocalypse Now '' ( 1979 ) , the former for which Kovic would act as a consultant . Kovic met with Pacino in New York , where they discussed adapting the book to film . In September 1976 , Pacino 's manager , producer Martin Bregman , contacted Kovic 's agent and entered into negotiations for the film rights . The following October , Bregman 's production company Artists Entertainment Complex acquired the rights for $ 150,000 . Filming was scheduled to begin in June 1977 with Paramount Pictures acting as distributor , but the project fell apart . Bregman and Pacino were unhappy with the script , and the studio dropped the film
1976 Democratic National Convention
1976 Democratic National Convention
Born on the Fourth of July (film)