A new remake of Scarface is being directed by Luca Guadagnino, known best for his critically acclaimed film Call Me By Your Name. But this isn’t the first time he’s re-imagining a well-known classic: Guadagnino’s most recent film was a remake of the 1977 Dario Argento horror film Suspiria. The original Scarface film, directed by Howard Hawks, was released in 1932, while its remake, directed by Brian de Palma, was released in 1983.
Most people associate the story with Al Pacino’s iconic performance as Tony Montana, but it’ll be interesting to see how Guadagnino’s re-imagining turns out. The setting of the film will take place in Los Angeles and will follow the themes of immigration explored in the previous films. Originally announced by Universal in 2011 with Martin Bregman as the producer, a screenplay written by David Ayer and David Yates as a possible director, the film was described by the studio as a re-imagining of the previous films with the same basic premise of a man’s rise to power in the criminal underworld to attain the American dream.
As time went on, multiple writers and directors were at one point attached to the project. Antoine Fuqua was in talks to direct the film back in 2016 and again in 2018. In 2017, it was announced that Joel and Ethan Coen had a hand in polishing the script, and the film was scheduled to be released in August 2018.
As of now, the Coen brothers’ script is still being used for the upcoming film and Dylan Clark is set to produce. Keep in mind, though, that Guadagnino is just the most recent director attached to a project with a history of starts and stops. Time will tell if the project will go through as planned.
Although the film is still a way off from being released (the cast is yet to be announced), Guadagnino currently has his hands full with other projects, such as an HBO limited series, We Are Who We Are, starring Chloë Sevigny, Kid Cudi, and Alice Braga; a remake of Lord of the Flies; a film based on the Stephen King Novel; and Find Me, the sequel to Call Me By Your Name, with Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer reprising their roles as Elio and Oliver.
Words by Kai-Ming Chow