14 DAY TRIAL // Get ready to say hello to another “little friend”: Universal is working on a brand new “Scarface” movie. While not a remake or a sequel, the production will tell the same story as the one in the 1983 and 1932 classic films.
Before Al Pacino made Tony Montana an icon in the 1983 Brian De Palma film, another “Scarface” film had reached cult status: it came out in 1932, was directed by Richard Rosson and starred Paul Muni.
Both films had a wonderful critical and fan reception and Universal wants to make the “Scarface” miracle happen a third time, Deadline Hollywood has learned.
In other words, it aims to make another gangster film that will have nothing in common with the first two except a similar story and the name.
“The film is not intended to be a remake or a sequel,” Deadline writes, perhaps rushing to set fans’ mind at ease.
“It will take the common elements of the first two films: an outsider, 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 ruthlessness and violent ambition,” the e-zine further reports.
For the time being, Universal is not saying a peep about where the main character will come from, as neither does it mention the city in which the story will take place.
Even though the new film will technically serve to introduce a new generation of moviegoers to the “Scarface” story without riding on the coattails of the two made before it, fans are already up in arms, saying on dedicated forums that Hollywood is simply out to ruin yet another classic.
Deadline seems to be warning them not to jump to conclusions, especially since the same happened when De Palma’s film came out.
“I’m told that when Universal put together the 1983 film, there were howls of heresy; after all, the film was considered a Howard Hughes-produced classic, with a script by Ben Hecht,” says the publication.
“The remake became iconic in its own way, particularly in influencing hip-hop culture. Tony Montana’s image is still widely merchandised; his signature line ‘Say hello to my little friend’ remains the biggest selling cell phone voice ringtone, and Universal has sold over 10 million DVD units worldwide,” Deadline adds.