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 Larraín (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...
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.
