Ever since their double whammy of “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems,” the Safdie Brothers have become one of the most interesting filmmakers working today.
Back in October, I had some intel that The Safdies were shooting their next film with Adam Sandler this winter. Then, in an interview with Vanity Fair, Sandler confirmed that this mysterious new Safdie film would be shooting in the “late winter”, which probably means a 2024 or late 2023 release.
Now, Sandler is going more into greater detail about the creative process for this film, via THR. The script, which seems to be evolving on a daily basis, is currently 340 pages:
They’ve been writing this movie we’re supposed to do together for a couple years. They just write hundreds and hundreds of pages. I’ll read them and I’ll say, ‘I like the part when this …’ And they’ll be like, ‘Oh, that’s not in it anymore. We did a whole other thing. We’re going to send you a new draft.’ They just don’t stop writing and thinking and coming at every angle they can, and this movie we’re going to do is pretty amazing. The first draft of the new one was 340 pages! It was insane and it was great.
As mentioned via my intel, this latest Safdies joint will not be produced by A24, with Netflix potentially eyeing the project. Timothee Chalamet is rumoured to also be part of the cast, but nothing has been confirmed to me about that.
Sandler mentioned that this new film would revolve around the sports world. If you remember, “Uncut Gems,” although set in New York City’s diamond district, had a few NBA players cameoing as themselves. The latest word is that it might tackle the sports betting world.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.