The reboot of the Al Pacino starrer Scarface seems almost impossible to make now, as the latest director attached to the project, Luca Guadagnino, has left. The development of the remake began back in 2011 at Universal Studios, and the film has long surpassed its announced release date in February 2018. Guadagnino’s sports drama, Challengers, was earlier delayed to a 2024 release date after SAG-AFTRA strikes impacted its schedule.
The trailer for Challengers became an Internet sensation, offering a glimpse of some steamy scenes featuring Zendaya. The director’s trademark sensual theme will be evident in this movie set against the backdrop of a Grand Slam tournament.
Luca Guadagnino Gives A Disappointing Update About Scarface Reboot
Scarface, released in 1983, explores the story of Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino, who rises from a penniless nobody in Miami to become a drug mafia kingpin. Not many people are aware that the movie directed by Brian De Palma was inspired by a 1932 movie of the same name, which, in turn, was adapted from a novel based on the real-life drug lord Al Capone.
Universal Studios, hoping to capitalize on the Scarface brand, initiated the reboot project in 2011 with David Yates as the director and Suicide Squad director, David Ayer, as the writer. However, no further updates about the movie were provided until 2014, when a new director-writer duo took over. The movie underwent several such iterations, with the most recent featuring Luca Guadagnino as the director and the Coen brothers as the writers.
Guadagnino, who joined the project in 2020, has now revealed that he is no longer associated with it. Speaking to a correspondent of The Hindu at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, the Call Me By Your Name director plainly stated, “I am not working on Scarface anymore.”
This news comes as a blow to Universal, and the remake project now seems like a distant dream. Many considered remaking one of the most iconic outings in modern cinema as unnecessary. Interestingly, Guadagnino was thrilled about joining Scarface in 2020 and shared that he intended to draw inspiration from both the 1932 and 1983 films.
Luca Guadagnino’s Steamy Movie Starring Zendaya Moved To Spring 2024 Release
When the trailer for Challengers dropped on YouTube, it broke the record for the most-viewed original film trailer in 24 hours. The trailer provided a sneak peek into the scandalous world of Grand Slam tennis while exploring the lives of three tennis players portrayed by Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist. The director, who had little idea about the game of tennis, revealed to The Hindu that he had to learn “the way a tennis match works, to understand where the stasis lies and where the hecticness lies.”
The film was initially slated for a September 2023 release, which was later moved to April 2024 due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes. The film was also set to premiere on the opening night of the Venice Film Festival but was later withdrawn. The strikes might prevent Zendaya from using her 200M Instagram account to promote the film.
Filming for Guadagnino’s historical romantic drama, Queers, starring Daniel Craig, is also completed and is set for a 2024 release date. The director has also expressed interest in making a sequel to his critically acclaimed film, Call Me By Your Name.
Fans of the 1983 film Scarface can now enjoy it by streaming on Netflix.
