Given that the basic story of Scarface powered both the tale of an Italian-born gangster in 1932 and the even more iconic Tony Montana (Al Pacino) in 1983, it’s somehow not surprising that Universal might be thinking it could work for an even newer generation. So try not to let your eyes widen much further in shock that the studio is now planning another version.
Yes, according to Deadline, Universal is now in active development, with producer Martin Bregman – who helped make the ’83 take – meeting writers to flesh out the latest take. The plan is to shove the update into today’s world while maintaining the core element of an immigrant who ends up becoming a criminal kingpin.
Just don’t go calling it a remake: while Brian De Palma’s version itself faced plenty of anger when it was originally announced (after all, the 1932 original was by Howard Hawks!) it has since gone on to become an iconic crime film. Read more about that here.
It’s too early to tell whether update could bottle the lightning a third time, but we’ll have to wait and see. But here’s the question for you lot: is it necessary? Do we need another anti-hero? Or will anyone involved say hello to a leetle friend?