David Ayer contributed to last year's movie landscape with Suicide Squad, and you can see his next directorial endeavor, Bright, on Netflix later this year. Following that, one of the projects Ayer had lined up was the Scarface remake, which he joined back in May following the departure of Antoine Fuqua. It was a fitting hire considering Ayer's experience with crime movies. However, Ayer is now following in Fuqua's steps, as he too has walked away from the newest Scarface adaptation.
According to Variety, David Ayer left Scarface because of scheduling issues with Universal, as the studio's plans to get the movie into production supposedly clashed with Ayer's Bright schedule. However, THR claims that Ayer's take on the Scarface remake was "too dark" for Universal, despite the fact that one would expect such a tone from a gangster movie like this. Ayer's tweet below confirms that time was indeed the main problem that popped up, though that still doesn't rule out the possibility that Universal didn't entirely agree with his vision.
Universal announced in 2011 that it was developing a new Scarface movie, but in the years since it's had trouble getting off the ground. Hell or High Water's David Mackenzie, Patriots Day's Peter Berg, Fantastic Beasts' David Yates and Jackie's Pablo Lerrain were all eyed to direct the remake at various stages, and the main reason why Antonie Fuqua had to leave was because it conflicted with his plans to make The Equalizer 2. Now with Ayer gone, Universal is frantically looking for a new director to take the reins so that shooting can begin this fall, but whether or not they'll be ready in time remains to be seen. As for Ayer's future, following the completion of Bright, he has Gotham City Sirens lined up at Warner Bros, which will reunite him with Suicide Squad actress Margot Robbie.
Much like how the Al Pacino-led Scarface took the action to the then-present 1980s rather than replicate the 1930s setting of the first movie, the latest Scarface remake will be a contemporary story, this time with the action focused on crime coming out of Mexico. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Diego Luna is still attached to star as the main protagonist, who audiences will watch rise in the criminal underworld, just like Antonio Camonte and Tony Montana before him. The remake's producers include Dylan Clark, Scott Stuber and Martin Bregman, the latter of whom also produced the 1983 Scarface.
Scarface is scheduled to hit theaters on August 10, 2018. Keep checking back in with CinemaBlend for more updates on the remake, including who Universal hires as David Ayer's replacement.
