Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro were both in line to make ‘Scarface’ together
Although Scarface is now considered a classic of the crime genre, it was negatively panned upon its release due to the sheer amount of violence it contained. Film critic Leonard Maltin even said that the film “wallows in excess and unpleasantness for nearly three hours, and offers no new insights except that crime doesn’t pay. At least the 1932 movie moved.“
However, the film, which follows Tony Montana – a poor immigrant turned drug lord – could have looked very different. After Al Pacino saw the 1932 version of the film, he informed producer Martin Bregman of the potential the crime drama possessed for a remake. The producer was initially uninterested, and Pacino had to convince him that his idea would pay off. The actor recalled, “I said, ‘I think this guy Paul Muni in this part,’ … ‘I think it was great.’ I said, ‘I would just like to do him if I could.’ … And then he said, ‘No.’ … He didn’t know Scarface. I said, ‘See the film; I think we can do it.’”
Pacino also contacted his dear friend Robert De Niro for advice on the film. De Niro shared that “We were talking about Scarface, and you were considering who to do it, what director. And I was saying, ‘You should really do it with Brian [De Palma],’ of the choices that you had. … And I said, ‘If you don’t do it, I’m going to do it,’ because I wanted to do it.”
During the early stages of Scarface‘s production, Pacino wasn’t aware of how many people were interested in working on the film: “I didn’t know that Marty [Scorsese] and Bob were interested in it.” De Niro added, “We were just talking, I think it was all loose, you know?”
Between Martin Scorsese, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Brian De Palma, no one could decide on the film’s route. Pacino explained that “Marty and Lamett didn’t quite agree on where the thing should go and how it should be done. And then Brian came in. They had a parting. […] I think that was the thing that took it off. Because the way Brian saw it and Oliver [Stone] saw it, and Marty saw it, and I saw it … pretty much were opposite of each other, in certain areas. And that’s when Scarface came about.”
Although Pacino makes an excellent Tony Montana and De Palma did a great job at creating a cinematic spectacle, we can’t help but imagine how fantastic a Scorsese-directed version of Scarface would also be.
