Scarface Remake Gets Another Screenwriter for Another Rewrite

They say the world is yours, and you make what you will with it. Sometimes that means a whole lot of crime for the more morally lax of us, and sometimes it means rewrites after rewrites for the ever forthcoming Scarface remake, which has been developing for years. Indeed, the Scarface remake is gaining steam again, but since the last two film versions of it have been so good, this is hardly anything to sneeze white powder at. And with Antoine Fuqua back onboard to direct, it is now looking for a new screenwriter in Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.

The report from Variety claims Universal Pictures has set Dunnet-Alcocer to be the latest writer to offer up a draft of this oh, so familiar story. The film recently regained Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) as director after he previously departed the film. In the intervening years, the film was slated for an August 2018 release date and had gone so far to get a new screenplay rewrite by David Ayer (Suicide Squad) and even the Coen Brothers. Yes, those Coen Brothers. Diego Luna (Rogue One) was also at the time attached to the film, although his involvement is now up in the air.

It is apparent the film is going through a new creative process, and Fuqua bringing in Dunnet-Alcocer is intriguing, given his credits have thus far been attached to well-received short films.

Fuqua was previously attached to the project before leaving in favor of The Equalizer franchise. Since his departure, he has made The Equalizer and The Magnificent Seven with Denzel Washington. Universal meanwhile has gone through several potential directors, including a rumored David Mackenzie and Peter Berg.

In an earlier press release that Universal revealed the film last year, it was said the shooting script was written by Joel and Ethan Coen, who’ve known their way around crime dramas in the past, having previously penned and helmed Fargo and No Country for Old Men. That is a major vote of confidence for a film that faces an uphill struggle in credibility given the cult classic status of the 1983 Scarface picture, which was directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, and featured a legendarily grandiose performance by Al Pacino.

While some may be aghast that any would attempt to replace Pacino’s Tony Montana, many have forgotten that his Scarface is itself a remake of an equally controversial (for its time) gangster picture from 1932. Starring Paul Muni as that Tony, the film was directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hughes. It is considered one of the first major violent, tough guy pictures out of Hollywood that brought down the weight of the then nascent censor board, butchering Hawks’ original (and better) ending.

So let’s see how this one goes too. Assuming of course that it ever gets made.