Posts Tagged ‘Universal Studios’

Universal Studios is starting pre-production for another Scarface movie.  Marc Shmuger and Martin Bregman will produce the new version of Scarface (Deadline). Bregman was a producer for the 1983 version of the film.  The movie Scarface has two previous incarnations.  The first Scarface film was released in 1932 and was about an Italian immigrant moving to Chicago and taking over the criminal underworld in the pursuit of the “American Dream”.  The starred Paul Mini, was produced by Howard Hughes, and directed by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson.  The version of Scarface that better known was the version that was released in 1983 and had more or less the same plot but featured a Cuban immigrant and took place in Miami.  The 1983 Scarface starred Al Pacino and was directed by Brian De Palma.  The new Scarface is said to be neither a sequel nor a remake of either adaptation of the film, but yet another story altogether with the same general plot idea (Hollywood Reporter).

There are of course mixed feelings about another Scarface being in production.  Although the 1983 version gained mixed reviews by critics, the film has become a major cult classic thanks to the extreme violence, and Pacino’s superb acting.  The film has remained surprising popular over the years and is considered by many one of the greatest gangster films of all time.   However, there were also outcries when the 1983 blockbuster was made.  The 1932 Scarface was also considered a classic.  The 1932 film was known to be one of Howard Hughes works.  The movie  has since been selected to be preserved in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and has been voted the 6th best gangster film by the American Film Institute (AIF).

The major argument that could be made in why not to remake the movie is that many people are still in love with Tony Montana.  There was a 51-year gap in-between the release of the previous Scarface movies.  It has not quite been 30 years since the release of the 1983.  In-between these 30 years then the movie has been an active piece of pop culture.  There have been many spoofs of the film as well as video game remakes and even a popular rap artist who calls himself “Scarface” based off of the movie.  I even remember the film still being heavily quoted around the time I first watched the film in the early 2000′s.

Remakes however, are something that happen with all great stories.  There will always be new generations that come with time and there will always be a need to recreate classics.  Even though remakes will always be compared to their previous rendition, they can often times turn out to be well made and thought out.  The new series of Batman movies is a great example of this.  The previous two Scarface films are legends and this one may be too, but I don’t think anybody would be too upset if it they waited another 20 years to make it.