Another day, another story about Hollywood mining the past to remake old classics. The classic in question this time is Scarface, which was has been made twice before and will now be put into development for a third time by Universal Pictures, according to Deadline Hollywood.
The first Scarface was released in 1932 with both Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson at the helm, and Paul Muni starring as Antonio "Tony" Camonte, a loosely-based portrayal of real-life gangster Al Capone. Reportedly Capone loved the film so much that he owned his own copy.
But the version modern audiences are more familiar with is the Brian De Palma-Al Pacino film released in 1983. Instead of Muni's South Side Italian mobster, Pacino was a Cuban refugee named Tony Montana, who makes his way to Miami to slash and kill his way to the top of the cocaine-dealing trade.
Both versions have been deemed classics in their own right. Of course, De Palma's Scarface was graphically more violent and full of profanities, though early Hollywood censors had a heavy hand in forcing edits to the 1932 version, which back then was considered to be too violent and sympathetic toward the gangster lifestyle.
Imagine what the censors would have thought of saying hello Pacino's little friend.
Original Theatrical Poster from Scarface (1983)/Universal Pictures, and Paul Muni as the original Scarface (1932)/Universal Studios Home Entertainment
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