Planned remake of Scarface prompts anticipation, dread
The announcement that Hollywood intends to remake (again) the classic gangster film Scarface has generated a lukewarm reaction from the general public. The predominant mood seems to be a mix of cautious optimism and healthy skepticism. For one thing, there have been just so many sucky remakes, ‘reimaginings’, sequels, prequels… Seriously, if Hollywood was a Baskin Robbins ice cream store, they’d have long since pared that 31-flavor menu down to a manageable dozen or so.
Of course, Hollywood has always recycled its product. They remade silent movies into talkies, shot in color instead of black and white, translated foreign films into English, etc. It’s always been thus and probably always will be. Making a movie is like opening a restaurant: the overwhelming majority of them fail to make money. All too aware of this casualty rate, the people who front the money to make movies prefer to hedge their bets by starting with a proven commodity.
Proven commodity or not, most remakes are dreck. Occasionally, they get it right. If Bryan De Palma hadn’t remade the 1932 Scarface – and fans of that equally classic version didn’t want him to – the world would have never got to experience Al Pacino’s iconic, scenery-chewing, OTT performance. It’s hard to overstate the impact the remake had on modern popular culture. If you traveled back in time and talked De Palma out of doing the movie, when you got back to the present day, half the hip hop videos ever made would have no storyline.
At present, there’s no new Scarface script and no actor attached. The producers (including Martin Bregman, who produced the 1983 version) intend to retain the core concept of an outsider from humble beginnings skillfully navigating his way through a dangerous environment and emerging on top, but the rest is a blank slate. Let’s see… We’ve had (Italian-born) Tony Camonte in Chicago, (Cuban-born) Tony Montana in Miami, and … (Canadian-born) Calvin Ayre in Costa Rica?
Hmm… Calvin does have a Scarface connection, having appeared as himself in a non-playing role in the Scarface video game. But we’re hoping the producers think a little further outside the box; maybe a Chinese-born Tony in Las Vegas. Would it work? Hard to say. After all, films are a gamble.
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