Two-time Oscar nominee Jonah Hill has signed on to star in UNCUT GEMS, the next film from indie filmmakers Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie, it was announced Tuesday by A24, which just acquired the project after working with the Safdies on the Cannes-bound thriller GOOD TIME.
The Safdie siblings will direct from a script they co-wrote with Ronald Bronstein. Scott Rudin and Eli Bush will produce with Sebastian Bear-McClard and Oscar Boyson from Elara Pictures, while Hill’s Wolf of Wall Street collaborators Martin Scorsese and Emma Tillinger Koskoff will serve as executive producers. A24 will handle worldwide rights.
Hill will play Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems, which will be an original story set in the unscrupulous, fast-paced world of New York City’s Diamond District.
The A24 team will be in Cannes this week with the Safdies’ New York-set crime thriller Good Time starring Robert Pattinson, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Barkhad Abdi. The distributor just released a trailer for the film (watch it below — it looks great!), which will premiere in competition at Cannes before A24 sends it to theaters on Aug. 11. Like Uncut Gems, it was produced by Elara Pictures, the production company comprised of Bear-McClard, Boyson and the Safdie brothers.
Hill just wrapped Gus Van Sant’s Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot with Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, and he’s gearing up to star in the Netflix series Maniac with Emma Stone. He’s also prepping his own directorial debut, Mid ’90s, which is set up at — you guessed it! — A24, with Rudin and Bush producing.
Like the Safdies, Hill is represented by WME, and he’s also managed by LBI Entertainment. Deadline broke the news of his casting.
Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief