Variety is reporting that Luca Guadagnino is set to direct the Scarface reboot at Universal Pictures.
The original Scarface came out in 1932 with Paul Muni in the starring role and Howard Hawks in the directors chair, then the story was retold/re-imagined in 1983 with Brian De Palma serving as the director and Al Pacino in the starring role.
This particular reboot of Scarface has been in length development at the studio, as originally it made the news circle back in August, 2016, when Antoine Fuqua was initially attached to direct, then departed in January 2017 due to scheduling conflicts with The Equalizer 2. The following month it was reported that the Coen Brothers, Ethan and Joel, were brought on board to polish the script (which had earlier drafts penned by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, Jonathan Herman and Paul Attanasio) and as it stands, the studio is still using the Coen Brothers script. May 2017, the studio brought David Ayer on board to direct, only to then depart a few months later, with some sources stating it was due to Ayer’s script being ‘too dark’ for the studio’s taste as well as his schedule to promote Bright being an issue as the studio aggressively wanted to get the project moving as quickly as possible.
Finding and keeping a director hasn’t been the only problem with this reboot, as Diego Luna is the only star name that’s been attached but during an interview earlier this year when asked if he was still working on the project he simply said ‘No, no I’m not’.
In terms of choice of director, it’s an interesting move considering his filmography at the minute (A Bigger Splash, Call Me By Your Name and Suspiria). Scarface will be produced by Dylan Clark under his Dylan Clark Productions banner. Scott Stuber will executive produce alongside Marco Marabito, with SVP Brian Williams under the Dylan Clark Productions banner. Senior VP of production, Jay Polidoro, and director of development, Lexi Barta, will oversee the project for Universal.