I remember the Scarface movie of the 80′s. Cocaine, women, bad accents, and the Miami Sun were the hallmarks of Brian De Palma’s classic gangster epic. What’s not so easy to remember is that the movie was actually a remake of a film from the 30′s. As such, enough time has passed for Hollywood to begin churning the “remake wheels” and begin formulating a way to re-introduce Scarface for a brand new audience.
As Deadline reports, Universal will be going back to the well for a new version that will have Marc Shmuger and Martin Bregman producing; the latter was behind the Pacino movie. It won’t be an unrecognizable tale, since it “will take the common elements of the first two films,” those being “an immigrant, barges his way into the criminal establishment in pursuit of a twisted version of the American dream, becoming a kingpin through a campaign of ruthlessness and violent ambition.”
I got a good laugh when reading that the ethnicity of the main character is being kept under wraps at the moment. It’s supposed to be significant to this movie’s location — the first had an Italian conquering Chicago, the remake a Cuban gaining control of the Miami drug trade. What ethnicity could match a location today? There are at least a few that come to mind.
The ethnicity is being kept a secret? What’s up with that?! There’s a lot of different angles that the producers could approach this movie and I’m not sure which one they might choose. I like the idea of re-making Scarface. Why not? that movie isn’t sacred and I’d certainly like to breathe new life into what is currently a lifeless franchise (no, the terrible sequel doesn’t count). I would really love it if they can get Pacino in the role as the gangster who gets muscled out of his empire.
