Talks of a sequel or remake of Brian de Palma's 1983 neo-noir masterpiece Scarface have surfaced since, well, pretty much 1983. Now, just months before that film's 30th anniversary, Deadline reports that the director of the last few Harry Potter movies is in final talks to helm a reboot of Scarface.
Reboot being the keyword, which means there's no guarantee the new flick will have anything to do with Miami or Cuban drug lords.
Deadline reports that details of the long-gestating script are under wraps, but that David Yates is all but signed on to direct.
It also adds this clarification:
On Scarface, he will be tasked with updating the crime saga so it lives up to the Ben Hecht/Howard Hawks/Paul Muni and Oliver Stone/Brian De Palma/Al Pacino classics since both became part of popular culture. This is not a remake or sequel but a reboot of a crime kingpin who through a ruthless campaign of ambition goes in hot pursuit of his American Dream - whatever that is in this decade. Ethnicity and geography were important in the first two versions so expect the same here. Former Universal head Marc Shmuger and his Global Produce banner is producing along with Martin Bregman who produced the Pacino version.
Of course, the Miami-set Scarface was based the 1932 flick of the same name that featured Italian gangsters in Chicago engaged in the Prohibition-era alcohol trade. So it appears Universal may want to switch out the ethnicity and setting of the new film as well.
Which is silly.
The 1932 feature with Tony Camonte is a fine flick, but it's De Palma's Tony Montana version that still looms large over pop culture today. Will filmgoers show up to see any random Tony of any random ethnicity climbing to the top of any random drug trade in any random city?
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