Say Hello to my Muggle Friend!

The American dream and the violence it can take to achieve it. It is a universal and timeless theme. Why the notion of retelling Scarface is not as sacrilege as some would have you to think. The setting and ethnicity of the title character are irrelevant. In any time and place, there is a story to tell of a thug who climbs his way to the top, all the power and glory that comes with it and the inevitable downfall.

It helps that I don't hold either iteration of the gangster favorite in high regard. I can understand the place in history for the original 1932 effort from Howard Hawks/Richard Rosson. The 1983 redo from Brian De Palma I find to be nothing but a piece of garbage that found a second life on home video and cable and really found its footing in the rap community.

No matter my personal thoughts, Universal made oodles of cash from the De Palma/Al Pacino "classic" over the years and see the value in updating the story and it appears they have finally settled on a director for this third incarnation. "TOLDJA" reports David Yates, still riding high post-Harry Potter, is their man. The British helmer is not exactly who I, or you good reader, would have imagined. But maybe that's what this Scarface; the unexpected.