Lily Rabe, left, Byron Jennings, centre, and Al Pacino are shown in a scene from The Merchant of Venice in New York. (Joan Marcus/The Public Theater/Associated Press)

Al Pacino is to return to Broadway for the first time since 2003 in a run of The Merchant of Venice to begin this fall.

Pacino has been playing Shylock, the complicated and often controversial Jewish character, in a sold-out run in New York's Central Park. Shylock is a wealthy man bent on revenge and distraught over his daughter's elopement.

The New York Times said Pacino, known for film roles such as Dog Day Afternoon, has achieved "a return to form" as Shylock.

The Pacino-led revival of The Merchant of Venice on Broadway will be the first since 1989, when Dustin Hoffman played Shylock.

It will be Pacino's first Broadway appearance since 2003, when he earned critical pans in the role of King Herod in Salome. In 1979, he was well-received in another difficult Shakespearean role — Richard III.

The show is scheduled for a limited run of 78 performances, from Oct. 19 to Jan. 9.

The play, at the Broadhurst Theatre, will be directed by Shakespearean veteran Daniel Sullivan and produced by Public Theatre, which also brought the play to Central Park.

With files from The Associated Press