Latest news from Hollywood (allright, in the fair dinkum stakes this ‘flash’ may actually be anywhere up to six months old) has it that the four-time Academy Award winning team the Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan) have been brought in as scriptwriters for the latest remake of SCARFACE.
Set for cinema release in August 2018, this will be the third time the story, loosely based on the rise and fall of infamous gangster Al Capone and originally derived from the 1930 novel of the same name by 28-year-old author Armitage Trail has made it to the big screen.
Originally filmed in 1932 by American director Howard Hawks, the movie was remade in 1983 with Brian DePalma at the helm (Oliver Stone was the scriptwriter), gifting Al Pacino one of his early seminal roles.
Set to star Rogue One: A Star Wars Story actor Diego Luna in the title role as Tony ‘Scarface’ Camonte, Universal Studios says the re-imagining will be set in downtown Los Angeles.
The announcement of yet another incarnation of this mobster icon is surely jam roll heaven for the millions of fans of the film.
For the rest, here’s something else to chew on –
The 1983 version starring Al Pacino ran for 170 minutes and contained 207 ‘F’ bombs. That works out to be exactly 1.21 ‘F’ bombs per minute.
How they gonna top that?
Let’s hope they have the good sense not to try.
Scenic Writer's Shack 
It boggles my mind wondering how you came up with such a list of movies, but maybe you did what I did once, and had a list of movies you had seen, and had somehow kept the list. My list of that genre is long gone and lost. What really adds to the intrigue embedded (using latest WordPress terminology, I hope you notice) in the said list is that it is not in alphabetical order, nor arranged from oldest to youngest. It gives the impression you just simply sat down and pulled the list from memory – quite the achievement.
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I am more than happy to perpetuate any real or imagined intrigue which may find itself attached, like a crusty barnacle to the underside of a boat, to any action of mine Roger.
If I have created by some means the impression that by compiling this list of favourite movies in this manner I have something approaching a scholarly strain of acquired savant syndrome, a-la John Nash (A BEAUTIFUL MIND – 2001) or Kim Peek (RAINMAN – 1988) then I intend to fully cash in and ride the gravy train of any and all accidental kudos that may come my way.
Likewise I design making no attempt to correct any wayward suggestions of implied genius, no matter how preposterous and off the mark I know them to be, when it comes to anything bearing my name.
And as you may have noted from that last mission statement-esque outpouring, I am also no stranger to embracing the ridiculous (and enjoying it!)
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I wonder why they keep remaking movies. Surely they don’t feel they can improve upon what’s come before them — sure, the 83 Scarface might be better than the original, but that’s arguable, and it’s an outlier. On the other hand, you don’t even have to think to find a remake that’s woefully bad compared to its predecessor. You’ve already thought of one.
The only thing I can think of is repackaging the flick for modern audiences who might otherwise not see the film. Which is nice enough, I guess, but then I wonder about the storytelling aspects that make great films great: do the same themes and underlying ideas animate the new version(s) as the old? And if not … are they really the same movie?
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Ooooh!
The thread of a serious discussion!
Love these..
I believe many industry types refer to sequels/reboots as having built-in ‘preawareness’. Conceived as the difference between a stranger coming to town and another person striding in packing not just a six gun but a reputation to go with it , one can appreciate delivering a film with a lineage can save the marketers a lot of work not having to start from scratch to get the great unwashed (us) out talking and seeing a new film.
To some degree I think it comes down to whether you view movies as art or a commercial commodity. They are of course both, but the fact that statistically there have been more sequels/remakes made by Hollywood in the last 15 years than in any other comparable period of that industry’s history, would indicate that the economics that allow ideas to flourish and make it to the big screen has also altered majorly.
Of note as well is that though there may be more of them now, sequels are nothing new. ROBIN HOOD, for example, has been remade/reimagined eleven times since it’s 1912 debut. I think for the average person the debate only really hits home when a favourite movie from their childhood, or at least a film they have fond memories of is given the rehash treatment. I know when the 2011 Jason Statham remake of one of my favourite films from many yesterdays ago, the Charles Bronson 1972 action classic THE MECHANIC was served up, I initially regarded even the idea as somehow inherently disrespectful. Then I saw the remake, which was very well done, and knew that both films could sit comfortably alongside each other. Equal but different. And representative of contrasting eras.
One things for certain: there’s no end in sight for the makeover treatment of Hollywood movies. Another favourite from back in the day FLATLINERS (1991) has a new version (also starring Kiefer Sutherland) coming out in September. One movie I’d hoped they’d leave well alone since it too is a stone cold classic to my mind, LOGAN’S RUN (1976), has been announced as being in development for a fresh spin. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (originally made in 1930) is set for a 2018 version directed by my namesake Roger Donaldson. And in a neat bit of era bookending, Max Landis, son of the director of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981) John Landis, is set to direct the announced sequel.
To labour the point, look out over the next 24 months for remakes of JUMANJI (1995) – THE CRAFT (1996) – THE WILD BUNCH (1969) – GHOST IN THE SHELL (1995) – WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP (1992) – WARGAMES (1983) – SPLASH (1984) – A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984) – MARY POPPINS (1964) – POLICE ACADEMY (1984) – DON”T LOOK BACK (1973) – OVERBOARD (1987) – and THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), among others.
I believe you hit upon the best reason for the existence of remakes, being that they provide the opportunity for new generations to journey into these stories with these characters but in a way that might be a little more contemporary for them.
But Hollywood, if you’re listening – can I just ask one small favour?
Please, no more GODZILLA sequels.
At least for the next decade or two?
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All that in the next 24 months. I love many — maybe most — of those movies. I’m not at all sure how I feel about that.
I read somewhere that the most recent Robin Hood (with Russell Crowe) was actually going to take a new tack on it. Following the Sheriff of Nottingham as the protagonist with Robin as a misunderstood agitator… but it got the studio treatment and became just another swashbuckling flick.
Point is, I think, I am deeply cynical that most remakes are just money grabs. So my default setting is to be distrustful of the remake, reboot, whatever it wants to call itself.
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Caveat emptor (‘Buyer beware’) goes doubly for remakes, many people would caution.
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