What will Luca Guadagnino make after “Challengers” hits theaters next year? IndieWire reports (via The Hindu) that it won’t be the director’s planned “Scarface” remake. In fact, Guada confirmed that the project is dead in the water. “I’m not working on “Scarface” anymore,” he told the outlet.
It’s too bad, considering who Guadagnino would work with on the feature. First announced in 2020, Guada’s remake would have been set in present-day LA, with the film’s script written by Ethan and Joel Coen. The director didn’t elaborate on why he abandoned the project, but had some remarks on adaptations. “For me, when approaching any book adaptation or remake, it’s about understanding what the story carries within itself that goes beyond the form of the original work,” said Guadagnino. “So that you can tell that story from a completely different perspective. Whether it’s fresh or not, I cannot tell. But it’s different.”
And “Scarface” is one of those cinematic stories that has been told and retold. Howard Hawks‘ 1932 pre-code film with Paul Muni was based on Armitage Trail‘s 1929 novel of the same name. And while Hawks’ film wasn’t a huge hit at its release, it’s retained a similar cult status to Brian De Palma‘s 1983 remake. De Palma’s film updated the rise-and-fall gangster story to 1980s Miami, with Al Pacino playing Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who becomes a cocaine kingpin. 1983’s “Scarface” was derided by critics at the time, but has since become a cult classic.
But what did Guada and the Coen Brothers have in mind for their rendition of the gangster tale? Outside of its LA location, there isn’t a great deal known about the Coens’ script. Before Guada landed on the project, the Coens worked on earlier drafts with Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, Jonathan Herman, and Paul Attanasio. And while Guada isn’t working on “Scarface” anymore, it remains unclear if the Coen Brothers are still involved. Regardless of the answer, plenty of directors would jump on the project if it’s offered to them. David Ayer, David Yates, Antoine Fuqua, and Pablo Larraín are just some of the names attached to “Scarface” remakes over the years.
As for Guada, he discussed his “Scarface” to the press on a couple of occasions. “People claim that I do only remakes,” he said about the project in 2020. “The truth of the matter is cinema has been remaking itself throughout its existence. It’s not because it’s a lazy way of not being able to find original stories. It’s always about looking at what certain stories say about our times. The first “Scarface” from Howard Hawks was all about the Prohibition era. Fifty years later, Oliver Stone and Brian De Palma make their version, which is so different from the Hawks film. Both can stand on the shelf as two wonderful pieces of sculpture. Hopefully ours, 40-plus years later, will be another worthy reflection on a character who is a paradigm for our own compulsions for excess and ambition. I think my version will be very timely.”
Then, at the 77th annual Venice Film Festival, Guada described his adaptation as about “the dream of fulfilling, of success,” adding that his film’s themes are “way bigger than Brian De Palma’s direction. It’s something bigger than Brian De Palma, Howard Hawks, and myself.” “The truth is that I’m interested in the Tony Montana character,” the director continued. “He’s a symptom of the American dream. And I think these films are made for their eras. My own “Scarface” will arrive 40 years after the previous one. I think the important thing about these movies is not the fact that they are lush and fundamental like De Palma’s. The important thing is knowing that Tony Montana is an archetypal character.”
But now audiences will never get to see what Guada would do with that archetype. It’s too bad, really, but there are plenty of other upcoming projects for Guadagnino, including an adaptation of William S. Burroughs‘ early novel “Queer” (which he’s already shot) and a potential sequel to “Call Me By Your Name.” As for the director’s tennis drama “Challengers,” it arrives in theaters on April 26, 2024.
