Universal's Scarface reboot lands Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino. Released in 1983, Scarface starred Al Pacino as Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant rising through the ranks of the Miami underworld to become a cocaine-fueled, machine-gun-toting drug lord. Directed by Brian De Palma, the film featured operatic violence, massive amounts of cursing and an iconic off-the-rails performance by Pacino.
Of course, De Palma’s 1983 film was not the first movie called Scarface about the rise and fall of an immigrant-turned-crime-lord. In 1932, legendary director Howard Hawks released the first Scarface, starring Paul Muni as the title character, a brutal gangster patterned after famed real life Chicago crime kingpin Al Capone (who himself recently got the unconventional biopic treatment with Capone starring Tom Hardy). For years now, reports have swirled about Scarface returning to screens via a reboot, with Antoine Fuqua at one point attached as director and Diego Luna previously rumored to be taking the lead role.
Now however, it seems Scarface is headed for screens without Fuqua’s guidance. As reported by Variety, Call Me By Your Name helmer Guadagnino has been snagged to bring the movie to life, with a script written by the Coen Brothers (after earlier drafts by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, Jonathan Herman and Paul Attanasio). The new movie is described as a “reimagining of the core immigrant story” of the 1932 and 1983 films, with a Los Angeles setting.
The Coen Brothers of course have plenty of experience in the area of violent crime stories. Their very first film was the neo-noir Blood Simple, and later they tackled a period gangster film with Miller’s Crossing. The Coens’ Fargo was another blood-soaked crime saga, with a Minnesota accent, and of course the duo struck Oscar gold in 2007 with the Best Picture winner No Country For Old Men.
Guadagnino has nowhere near as much experience as that when it comes to genre films, having made mostly art house movies like Call Me By Your Name, his 2017 Oscar nominee starring Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer. Guadagnino’s one previous foray into genre was 2018’s Suspiria, a remake (of sorts) of the classic Dario Argento horror film from 1977. Now, Guadagnino is set to bring Scarface back to the screen nearly 40 years after Pacino gave one of movie history’s most memorable over-the-top bad guy performances in De Palma’s film.
It will be interesting to see how the Los Angeles setting influences Guadagnino’s take on Scarface, and of course it will be fascinating to see who ultimately takes on the lead role (if Luna is no longer earmarked for the part). Guadagnino is certainly an interesting director to tackle this project, given his art film credentials. As for the bloodier elements of the story, Guadagnino already showed he can handle gruesome material with Suspiria, though that film’s gore was more of the gothic horror variety. No release date has yet been announced for Scarface.
Source: Variety