Deadline's Mike Fleming reports tonight that David Ayer, screenwriter of Training Day, has been hired to write the screenplay for Universal's update of Scarface, which is being produced by Martin Bregman and Marc Shmuger. According to Fleming, Ayer is currently completing his third directorial effort, End Of Watch, which he also wrote and produced. If he puts together a decent script, it would not seem such a stretch to think that he might be offered the chance to direct Scarface, as well. Here is what Ayer told Fleming about being chosen to write the new Scarface, which he sounds passionate about:"This is a fantasy for me, I can still remember when I saw the film at 13 and it blew my mind. I sought it out; I went after it hard. I see it as the story of the American dream, with a character whose moral compass points in a different direction. That puts it right in my wheelhouse. I studied both the original Ben Hecht-Howard Hawks movie and the DePalma-Pacino version and found some universal themes. I’m still under the hood figuring out the wiring that will translate, but both films had a specificity of place, there was unapologetic violence, and a main character who socially scared the shit out of people, but who had his own moral code. Each was faithful to the underworld of its time. There are enough opportunities in the real world today that provide an opportunity to do this right. If it was just an attempt to remake the 1983 film, that would never work.”