This is how we all win. While he was robbed of an Oscar nomination, Adam Sandler did win an Indie Spirit Award for his terrific, on-edge performance as an inveterate gambler in 2019’s “Uncut Gems” —and it was a hell of a speech (see below). Now, it appears Sandler is learning from a good thing and the rumors are true: Sandler is set to reteam with the “Uncut Gems” directors Josh and Bennie Safdie.
Though he declined to offer any further details on the project, in an interview with EW this week, Sandler confirmed he’s “going to do another movie with the Safdie brothers.”
READ MORE: Uncut Jams? Adam Sandler & The Safdie Brothers Reportedly Working On A New Project
“They’re working hard on it,” Sandler said about the Safdies. “Their work ethic is bananas. They’re always working, always writing, always thinking. I don’t know what I can tell you, but it’s gonna be very exciting. It’s different. But I don’t want them to ever say, ‘What the hell did you tell him that for?’ So I’ll just let them talk [about it].”
Any guesses? Well, for one, *spoiler alert* Howard Ratner, Sandler’s character in “Uncut Gems” died at the end of the film—one could call it blissful “I’m gonna cum” salvation, really—so it won’t be a sequel to that one.
In “Uncut Gems,” Sandler plays a greedy jeweler from New York’s diamond district addicted to gambling who has various debts, mainly with a local loan shark. He constantly pawns his clients’ collateral to pay the debts and all the while he is juggling his family, his mistress (Julia Fox), and the wife that he may or may not divorce (Idina Menzel).
Sandler clearly loved the experience—it gave him some of the best reviews of his career—and maybe the reunion isn’t a huge surprise. He told EW in 2019 that he “would die to work with [the Safdies] again.”
“We talk about it constantly, man,” he said at the time. “I love these guys, I love ’em. I mean, they’re incredible filmmakers… Of course, I would die to work with them again, because it’s a brand new feeling. But the funniest thing is when I would say to the Safdies, ‘Your future is so bright,’ they didn’t want to talk about that. They were like, ‘I just like Gems, man.’ They just were so deep in it.”
Whatever the project is, and if it’s next for the Safdies, it may have to wait a little bit. Benny Safdie, who is also an actor, is said to be shooting “The Curse” this summer which is a Showtime series he created with comedian Nathan Fielder. Starring Emma Stone, Safdie, and Fielder, the genre-bending comedy series explores how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple while co-starring on their new HGTV show. We can’t wait for that one either. Lots of good stuff coming from the Safdie camps soon and hopefully, Josh can finish the script on whatever they are cooking up in time for Sandler to shoot next year. Fingers crossed.
