Why did Suicide Squad’s David Ayer drop out of the Scarface remake?

Hired to direct a remake of Scarfacepopularized in the version of Brian De Palma (Dressed to kill) starring Al Pacino (The Godfather) and launched in 1983, David Ayer(Suicide squad) finally revealed what led him to leave the project shortly after hiring.

In an interview with TotalFilm, the filmmaker denied that he had written a very violent version of the classic and, therefore, he was dismissed from the production. However, he admitted that Universal Pictures, the studio responsible for the remake, was looking to do something “lighter”.

“One of the best scripts I’ve ever written is my draft of Scarface (…). It wasn’t very violent. I can handle the violence. If someone gets shot, I can photograph where their head explodes, have a rating for over 18 and not alienate people. That’s the basics of cinematography. I created a rich journey through drug trafficking. [Mas] the studio simply wanted something more fun”he revealed.

In the first Scarfacedirected by Howard Hawks and released in 1932, we meet the Italian immigrant Tony Camonte, who embarks on a criminal career and, through violence, tries to climb the ladder of success in the mafia. In the version of From Palma, Al Pacino is the Cuban immigrant Tony Montanawho wants to take control of a drug cartel.