While I hardly consider SCARFACE to be my favourite gangster film (that would be GOODFELLAS) I can appreciate its place in film history and its impact on the genre. So when news broke yesterday of the proposed SCARFACE remake taking a step closer to reality, I was left wondering…why?
One person who actually seems to be on board with the idea of a remake is Al Pacino himself. At the New York premiere of his new film, DANNY COLLINS, The Hollywood Reporter asked Pacino what he thought of this potential remake of one of his biggest films:
Oh, it’s fine. It's part of what we do. We remake things.
Not that he needed to give his approval but I’m sure screenwriter Jonathan Herman will breathe a little easier as he moves forward with the remake’s script. Pacino is right of course, the remake is an undeniable part of human culture whether we like it or not. In fact Pacino is about to join the remake crowd himself as he followed up THR's question by saying that "I may remake a movie I saw recently, I can't say what it is. It's about 50 years old.” That would place the original film somewhere in the mid-60’s. Any guesses what it could be?
Seeing as how SCARFACE isn’t quite as dear to me as it is to others, I’m fairly ambivalent about this remake. I hope that it’s at least different enough to justify remaking it. When a remake ends up being almost identical to its predecessor aside from a modern setting I find myself getting bored. I’ve already seen this movie, why would I want to see it again? If you’re going to remake something please try to do something different and give me a reason to see it. Len Wiseman’s TOTAL RECALL may not have been totally successful but I can at least give it a bit of respect for not just retreading what was done before (and better) in Paul Verhoeven’s original.
The SCARFACE remake is slated to be directed by Pablo Larrain.
In your opinion, what are some of the best remakes out there?
