“Scarface” is one of those properties that people are more open to the idea of a remake because it is built on a basic premise – the rise and fall of an immigrant who becomes a dangerous criminal kingpin – which can yield very different results depending upon the time and setting.

Howard Hawks’ 1932 classic followed an Italian mobster and gun running in Chicago of the time, Brian De Palma’s legendary 1983 film tackled a Cuban immigrant’s takeover of the Miami drug trade. Now we’re getting a new version from “The Magnificent Seven” and “Training Day” helmer Antoine Fuqua who confirms the new take will still be dealing with the drug war, but will center on a Mexican immigrant who turns to crime after the American Dream falls apart. He tells Fandango:

“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.”

Fuqua goes on to say the new character is an unstable guy disenfranchised and disrespected by a system that hates him. Asked about the film’s current status, he says “[we] still need to do the casting and I have to have a couple more meetings on it.” Fuqua is set to do a sequel to “The Equalizer” but that will come after another project first. Whether that project will be “Scarface” or not, Fuqua says right now he isn’t sure.