David Ayer will no longer direct Universal’s Scarface remake

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

All twelve of you who were looking forward to seeing what David Ayer could do with a remake of SCARFACE will likely be disappointed by the news that the SUICIDE SQUAD director has departed the project. Variety reports that Ayer will no longer direct the SCARFACE remake. Sources say that Netflix's aggressive schedule surrounding the release of David Ayer's BRIGHT forced the split, but THR adds that Ayer's take on the script was "too dark" for the studio.

Universal Pictures is still hoping to get the SCARFACE remake up and running by the fall, so they are currently casting a net to find a director who will be able to quickly take over the project. This isn't the first time that a director has left SCARFACE at the altar, as David Ayer actually took over the film from Antoine Fuqua, who had to leave the project earlier this year due to scheduling issues with his sequel to THE EQUALIZER. Diego Luna (ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY) is still attached to star in the film, but who knows what will happen once Universal narrows their search for what will be the third director of the SCARFACE remake.

Who would you like to see direct the SCARFACE remake now?

Before he departed, Antoine Fuqua had said that SCARFACE's story of an immigrant fighting for his version of the American Dream is still just as relevant than ever, if not more so.

I read the script they have and it's actually really interesting and very timely. We're dealing with a lot of stuff now coming out of Mexico. And again, we still have those issues dealing with the "American Dream", and the fact that the game is rigged, right? It's not really an even playing field, but the promise is that it is. The promise is that everyone gets a fair shot, but that's not always the case. So that's always relevant, and right now with what's happening in Mexico, which is where [the main character] comes from — he comes out of Mexico — that's relevant, especially when you've got people talking about putting up walls and other kinds of stuff. We're still dealing with immigration, we're still dealing with what would turn someone into Scarface.

SCARFACE is set for an August 10, 2018 release.