As I’ve said many times on this site, I’m not totally opposed to remakes. For example, I think the Evil Dead remake, which is clearly taking a totally different approach to the story, is a great idea. What I am opposed to are remakes that seem to be nothing more than cash grabs, or remakes which take a movie that is already a classic and try to do them better.
So for both those reasons I cringed last year when Universal announced it was going to remake Scarface. First of all, Universal has already gotten two great movies out of the Scarface story: the 1932 original directed by Howard Hawks and the 1983 remake directed by Brian DePalma and starring Al Pacino. The latter film in particular has become something of a bible to rap artists and urban youth. Does Universal really think it can get another quality film out of the same story?
Apparently Universal does, but just not with the current screenplay written by David Ayer (End of Watch, Training Day, The Fast and the Furious). Deadline reports that the studio has hired Paul Attanasio (Donnie Brasco, Quiz Show) to rewrite Ayer’s screenplay, and retains producers Marc Shmuger and his Global Produce banner as well as Martin Bregman (who produced the 1983 version). The film is expected to retain its angle focusing on an immigrant becoming an American crime kingpin, but update it to a contemporary setting.
As for where that immigrant will come from, well, I guess that’s up to Attanasio now. Frankly I’m surprised Universal isn’t trying to tap into the vast popularity the 1983 film has with rap artists by looking for an African-American lead, but I guess that anything is still possible when there’s money to be made, right?
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