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Call Me By Your Name Oscar nominee Luca Guadagnino is now set to direct Universal Pictures’ reimagination of Scarface.

The studio has been in development on the project for quite some time, going back to 2011, with David Ayer and Antoine Fuqua previously attached at directors as Deadline has broken the news on this project over various points. United Artists distributed the 1932 Howard Hawks-Richard Rosson movie, while Universal released the iconic 1983 Brian De Palma movie that starred Al Pacino as Cuban gangster Tony Montana.

In the 1932 Scarface, an Italian (Paul Muni) took over Chicago, and in the De Palma remake, Montana cornered the cocaine trade in 1980s Miami, only to be consumed by it.

The new movie will be set in Los Angeles. The pic’s shooting script will be off of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s version, who’ve been with the project for at least three years,...

Tony Sokol May 22, 2017

The Scarface remake looks like it has a new director, as David Ayer enters talks...

Suicide Squad director David Ayer is in early talks to direct and write Universal’s new take on the gangster classic Scarface. Ayer steps in for Antoine Fuqua, who couldn’t fit the film into his schedule, given his current commitment to making The Equalizer 2.

Scarface will follow the rise and fall of a Mexican gangster. It will star Diego Luna, who played Cassian Andor in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, as the bad immigrant made worse. It will be set in the El Sereno area of South Los Angeles

Ayer has form in the genre. Before Suicide Squad he directed the gritty crime films End Of Watch, Hard Times and Street Kings. He also wrote the screenplay for Training Day. Right now, he's currently directing and producing Bright, which will also star Will Smith,...

The long-rumored Scarface reboot has officially been placed on the fast track over at Universal, no thanks to the appointment of Joel and Ethan Coen, and it seems the studio is wasting no time in its search for a director.

Deadline is reporting today that David Ayer, director of Fury, Suicide Squad and Netflix’s upcoming fantasy flick Bright, has entered talks to take point at the helm. Negotiations are ongoing, but this revelation means Ayer is now the first filmmaker to be linked with the project ever since Antoine Fuqua departed due to issues with scheduling. But there was some good news to counter the disappointment of losing the Training Day director: Rogue One‘s Diego Luna had climbed aboard to headline.

Luna is still involved in Universal’s long-gestating redo, thank the heavens, and assuming David Ayer and the Powers That Be at Universal reach some form of agreement over the coming weeks,...

Well, this is pretty cool: Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain, whose last film was the deeply brilliant (not to mention Academy Award-nominated) "No," has been tasked with helming the upcoming big budget reboot of "Scarface" for Universal, according to The Wrap.

"Scarface" first began life as a Howard Hawks/Richard Rosson gangster film back in 1932. It told the story of a man named Tony who was an Italian immigrant in Chicago, who rose to power through the ranks of organized crime. The film was notable for its realistic depiction of violence (which caused a fair amount of controversy) and Paul Muni's electric lead performance. When the movie was remade in the early '80s by Brian De Palma and Oliver Stone, the setting was relocated to Reagan-era Miami and the lead character re-conceived as a charismatic, drug-smuggling Cuban.

Once again, the movie came under fire for what some considered its...

Universal's "Scarface" reboot just got a little dose of magic. David Yates, who directed the last four entries in the "Harry Potter" franchise, is in "final talks" to helm the gangster-movie update, according to Deadline. Yates has been "refining" the script for the film, and the studio is said to be very enthusiastic about the current draft. Previously filmed in 1932 by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson and in 1983 by Brian De Palma, this new "Scarface" will take place in modern day and feature a new spin on the ruthless crime kingpin played by Paul Muni (character name: Tony Camonte) in...

Screenwriter Frederica Sagor Dead at 111: Wrote Movies for Norma Shearer (photo), Clara Bow, Louise Brooks Now, whether Frederica Sagor's Hollywood Babylon-like tales bear any resemblance to what actually happened at studio parties and private soirees, I can't tell. But on the professional side, one problem with the information found in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim is that studios invariably used numerous writers, whether male or female, in their projects. Usually, in those pre-Writers Guild days, only two or three contributors received final credit, not because of the uncredited writer's gender but in large part because the final product oftentimes had little — if anything — in common with the original source. While doing research for my Ramon Novarro biography, I went through various drafts, written by various hands, of his movies. A Certain Young Man, for instance, went through so many changes (including director, cast, and title), that the final film...

David Ayer will write the script for Universal Pictures' updated version of their gangster classic "Scarface."According to Deadline.com, Marc Shmuger and Martin Bregman are producing.Bregman produced the 1983 version with Al Pacino.The new version will be neither a remake nor sequel but will borrow elements from the original 1932 Paul Muni version (directed by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson) and the remade 1983 Al Pacino version (directed by Brian De Palma).The film's central story, that of an immigrant gangster striving for the American Dream while climbing the ladder of the organized crime world, will remain.The 1932 version was set in Chicago with prohibition alcohol as a lucrative source of income for gangsters. The 1983 version substituted Miami for Chicago and...

Reaction was decidedly… mixed when it was announced earlier this fall that Universal is planning a Scarface remake. Fans of Brian De Palma’s 1983 cult-classic crime-drama (featuring an equally classic turn by Al Pacino) have been extremely resolute in their opinion that the film not be given the dreaded Hollywood modern makeover – despite the fact that De Palma’s film was itself a remake of the 1932 Howard Hawks/Richard Rosson film of the same name. But I digress.

No matter where you stand on the issue of whether or not Scarface deserves an update, the film is nonetheless being remade, and Universal has tapped a writer to begin crafting the new version – said writer being none other than Training Day scriber David Ayer.

Deadline had the exclusive on Ayer being hired for ...

Click to continue reading ‘Training Day’ Writer Scripting ‘Scarface’ Remake...

No stranger to crime dramas - having written the films "Training Day" and "S.W.A.T." and written and directed "Harsh Times" and "Street Kings" - writer/filmmaker David Ayer has been chosen by Universal to handle scripting duties on the upcoming "Scarface" update for producers Marc Shmuger and Martin Bregman. The project was initially announced in September. The new version of the title - the third after both the 1932 Howard Hawks/Richard Rosson film and the 1983 movie directed by Brian De Palma - will not function as a remake of either of the previous incarnations but will nevertheless stick to the main...

Universal Pictures is going forward with an updated version of their gangster classic "Scarface."According to Variety, Marc Shmuger and Martin Bregman are producing.Bregman produced the 1983 version with Al Pacino.The new version will be neither a remake nor sequel but will borrow elements from the original 1932 Paul Muni version (directed by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson) and the remade 1983 Al Pacino version (directed by Brian De Palma).The film's central story, that of an immigrant gangster striving for the American Dream while climbing the ladder of the organized crime world, will remain.The 1932 version was set in Chicago with prohibition alcohol as a lucrative source of income for gangsters. The 1983 version substituted Miami for Chicago and cocaine for...

In news sure to upset every gangster rap artist in the world, Deadline is reporting that Universal is hard at work on a new version of Scarface. This updated take on Scarface (which will be the third film with the title, coming after Howard Hawks/Richard Rosson 1932 version and the ever-popular 1983 Al Pacino vehicle) will not be a remake or a sequel, but will instead attempt to tell a new story using the recurring themes from the two earlier versions. An immigrant outsider will come to America and become a crime lord through his use of violence (probably) before dying as a result of the life he’s chosen. It worked in both previous versions, so there’s no reason why it can’t work again, right? Universal is keeping the important details (like where the new...

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Say it ain't so, but Universal is gearing up for a new version of Scarface. Writers are at work trying to find a way to make this story relevant again. Back in 1983, Brian De Palma and Oliver Stone's version starring Al Pacino was initially met with skepticism, as it was a remake of the 1932 film produced by Howard Hughes and directed by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson. But the remake became a classic in its own right. Universal is positioning the latest revamp as less of a remake and more of a thematically related film, per Deadline: "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 ...

Don't call it a remake. Scarface is a tale that has loomed large in cinema since first incarnated in a 1932 film starring Paul Muni, George Raft, and Boris Karloff, a tale elevated to infamy thanks to the 1983 telling by Brian De Palma. Now there will be a third major version as Universal preps a picture that will once again show how an immigrant gangster violently rises to the top of his chosen 'profession' thanks to ruthless ambition. Deadline [1] reports on the film, saying explicitly that Universal isn't trying to remake either of the previous films. There aren't writers at this point, though producers Marc Shmuger and Martin Bregman have reportedly been meeting with possible scribes. Until someone is hired, we're not likely to know what the studio really intends from the film. And why not? The Howard Hawks/Richard Rosson version from '32 is an early crime classic, but the...

Say hello to my little remake. Well, that variation on one of cinema's most famous quotes is not entirely accurate -- Universal is indeed planning a new Scarface, but their movie apparently will not be a straight remake of Brian De Palma's massively influential 1983 film, nor the 1932 Howard Hawks/Richard Rosson original that inspired it. Which basically means they're purely trying to capitalize on the recognizable name. Deadline says the studio is on the hunt for writers for a fresh take,...