10 Reasons Why The Scarface Remake Shouldn't Happen

Some movies should just never be touched...

Even with the lukewarm box office of Robocop, the Hollywood remake machine shows no signs of slowing down. Having butchered Paul Verhoeven's original with a decidedly tepid update, executives have now turned their attention to another iconic 1980s film: Scarface. News surfaced three weeks ago that Universal Pictures have hired Chilean director Pablo LarraĆ­n (No) to direct an updated version with a Mexican lead, working from a script from Donnie Brasco writer Paul Attanasio. At first glance, you might not have grounds to be worried. The line-up of talent involved is pretty good, particularly if you add in Marc Shmuger, the award-winning producer of Wikileaks documentary We Still Secrets. Making Tony a Mexican is an interesting idea, particularly if the film sticks to the news article's claim that he will be bicultural and bilingual. And the much-loved Brian De Palma film is in itself a remake, so what's the harm in doing it again? These are all good arguments, but there are still a great many reasons why this shouldn't happen. Neither the 1932 original or the 1983 remake are by any means perfect, but they are a great deal more interesting and adventurous than this is ever likely to be. Here are just ten of the reasons why a remake of Scarface would be a very bad idea...
Contributor
Contributor

Freelance copywriter, film buff, community radio presenter. Former host of The Movie Hour podcast (http://www.lionheartradio.com/ and click 'Interviews'), currently presenting on Phonic FM in Exeter (http://www.phonic.fm/). Other loves include theatre, music and test cricket.