Set to be directed by No filmmaker Pablo Larrain, the upcoming film will now get a rewrite from Straight Outta Compton screenwriter Jonathan Herman. The film will be the the third movie based on Armitage Trail’s 1929 novel of the same name, following Howard Hawks’ 1932 film about Italian mobsters, and much more notably in recent memory, Brian De Palma’s 1983 remake that cast Al Pacino as a Cuban refugee who becomes a powerful drug kingpin.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Herman will revise the existing script penned by Paul Attanasio (Donnie Brasco) and David Ayer (End of Watch), which is expected to be set in present-day Los Angeles and feature a Mexican lead character. The film will reportedly retain the name “Tony” for the lead character — as it was in the two prior films — but use a different surname.
While the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton is Herman’s first and only writing credit, Larrain has quickly established himself as an up-and-coming director. His 2012 film No was nominated for an Academy Award as the year’s best foreign-language film.
There’s no release date set for the Scarface remake yet.
