The most-recentCoen Brothers' project willprobably be lostin the annals of history, but their newly announced script should stir up quite the conversation. Universal Pictures announced today thatJoel and Ethan Coenhave scripted the studio’sScarfacereimagining, a project the four-time Oscar winners might ultimately end up directing. To be clear, the script is from the Coens though no director is currently attached and Universal did not mention who was in talks to take the helm. [Update: Read below for two frontrunners who have emerged for the job.]
However, the new take onBrian De Palma’s classic 1983 crime story about a Cuban immigrant (Al Pacino) who climbs the ranks of a Miami drug cartel has had some difficulty landing a director over the last few years. In 2013,David Yateswas in final talks, then camePablo Larraínin 2014, and thenAntoine Fuquajust last year. They allcameandwent. Currently, the project is director-less, but the Coens sure know their way around a camera, even moreso when it’s their own script.
Speaking of the script, this thing has gone through a lot of iterations since itsinception.David Ayerwas going totake a crack at itin 2011, withPaul Attanasiocoming in a year laterfor a rewrite. Then in 2015,Straight Outta ComptonwriterJonathan Hermanturned in another draft, followed bya polishfromThe Wolf of Wall StreetwriterTerence Winter. That was the last we heard of until the most recent “polish” (this thing must be so shiny at this point…) by the Coens. There’s no way of knowing just yet whether the central plot following a Mexican immigrant in Los Angeles is still intact after all the hands the script has passed through. We’ll find out for sure in August 2018!
Update:THRreports thatHell or High WaterdirectorDavid MackenzieandPatriot’s DaydirectorPeter Bergare in talks with Universal to helmScarface. The write-up has some interesting backstory on Mackenzie and Berg’s relationship to the studio and to each other, but for me, the more interesting story is what we’re going to get from aScarfaceretelling scripted by the Coens and directed by either Mackenzie, who made a big splash recently with his Neo-Western, or Berg, whose last outing our ownPerri Nemiroffsaid"isn’t an easy watch, but it’s a necessary one – perhaps now more so than ever.“It’s unfortunate that we can’t get both versions!
Here’s the official word from Universal Studios:
Universal Pictures’ UNTITLED UNIVERSAL EVENT FILM has been announced as SCARFACE and will be released on the film’s previously announced date: Friday, July 19, 2025.
An explosive reimagining of one of the most iconic sagas in film history, Universal Pictures’ SCARFACE shoots from a script polished by four-time Academy Award® winners Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men, Fargo). A Bluegrass Films and Global Produce production, the drama will be produced by Marc Shmuger (Lucy), Scott Stuber (Ted) and Dylan Clark (Planet of the Apes series). Martin Bregman, who produced the 1983 film, serves in the same capacity in the telling of this generation’s SCARFACE, which the studio first brought to the screen in 1932.
