When last we heard word about the Scarface remake's development, David Ayer had vacated the director's chair, with the film still dated for an August 10, 2018 release date. Well, we've received an update on just where Scarface is with its production, and it's a bit of a step backward, as the film is now officially undated and off of Universal's 2018 schedule. However, the silver lining in this development is that a key player is back in talks to possibly take the director's chair: Antoine Fuqua himself!
To circle back in the project's history, it was Fuqua that was involved with the initial phases of the third iteration of Scarface as a producer and director on the project. However, he eventually dropped out due to production on The Equalizer 2 kicking into gear. This lead to Ayer boarding the project, which lasted until the director parted ways after pitching a darker script than Universal wanted to produce, and/or had to devote his time and energy to Netflix's Bright. Either way, it looks like Scarface is temporarily stalled out, but only for the best reasons.
Considering Scarface has a screenplay that currently has Joel and Ethan Coen's names attached to it, you don't want to just throw a director into the chair and expect them to make magic. With that said, there's also a chance that Antoine Fuqua's possible re-involvement in this new tale of a criminal's rise to power will require another re-write in order to fully be realized as a Fuqua-supported project. So naturally, that possibility will take some time, and as almost any writer will tell you, being able to draft without a release date is a godsend.
All this being said, there's one more problem that Deadline mentioned as rearing its head, and that's the status of current lead actor Diego Luna's schedule. With this new retooling phase to Scarface, there's a chance that Luna's schedule won't allow him to fully commit to the lead role he'd been considering. But again, with this new shake up on the film's production staff, there could be enough time built in to secure a new lead should the Rogue One actor find himself unable to participate.
If there was any sort of educated guess one could make to when Scarface would re-date itself for release, I'd say some point in either 2020 or 2021 would be the most likely. With the project feeling like a moderate priority for Universal, and its 2021 calendar already starting to form with Jurassic World 3's June 11slot, it wouldn't be surprising to see the studio staking out some other dates in the meantime. Whatever that date may be, and whether or not Antoine Fuqua lands the director's chair for Scarface again, we'll keep you updated here at CinemaBlend when the news breaks.
In the meantime, you'll be able to see Fuqua and Denzel Washington team up for some more ass kicking when The Equalizer 2 explodes into theaters on July 20th. To see what other films will be competing for your box office dollar, as well as what's coming up throughout the year, head over to our 2018 release schedule for further details.
