The June shoot for Josh and Benny Safdies’ upcoming film has now been further delayed.
I’m being told that it might be weeks, if not months, before they begin shooting, but they haven’t figured out a firm date yet. The goal at the start, when this project was first being concocted, was a late winter shoot. That ended up being pushed to June. Now it could be July, August or beyond.
I pursued Jeff Sneider’s lede from a few days ago, he was saying that the Netflix project may have stalled. My source is saying that it’s still on, but there have been script rewrites and the casting hasn’t been completed yet.
The source I spoke to says that the delay might have to do with last month’s controversy, which involved Safdies producer Sebastian Bear-McClard and a shady bit of underage casting for the film “Good Time.”
What we do know is that Adam Sandler, Gael Garcia Bernal and Megan Thee Stallion are officially on-board. Ben Affleck’s deal is also progressing, he really wants to work with Josh and Benny. Meanwhile, Timothee Chalamet seems to be out of the running.
What is clear is that this is a highly anticipated film by movie fans, the Safdies’ last two releases (“Good Time” and “Uncut Gems”) put them on the map as one of the best and most promising filmmakers out there.
The film, set in the ‘90s, is said to take place around the baseball card collecting world.
“Hope,” Na’s first film in ten years — his last one being the exemplary “The Wailing” —is a gloriously messy, blood-soaked sci-fi epic that may become a cult classic despite—or because of—its polarizing nature.