‘NATURAL PROGRESSION’

Benny Safdie Confirms He’s Splitting Creatively From Brother Josh

Benny and Josh Safdie were supposed to collaborate on a follow-up to ‘Uncut Gems,’ but the project is now “on pause,” according to the former.

The brothers Safdie are no more—at least professionally. A long-suspected creative separation between the fraternal minds behind Uncut Gems was confirmed on Thursday by Variety in a profile of Benny Safdie. The Oppenheimer star said that, despite rumors to the contrary, his parting of the ways with older brother Josh was peaceful. “It’s a natural progression of what we each want to explore,” Benny clarified. “I will direct on my own, and I will explore things that I want to explore. I want that freedom right now in my life.” Unfortunately, that freedom won’t extend to the planned Uncut Gems follow-up, which was originally set to star Adam Sandler and Megan Thee Stallion. Benny and Josh were meant to direct the movie together before the former, who told Variety he wasn’t part of the creative process, departed the project. While previous reports had indicated that Josh was all set to go solo as its director, the film is now “on pause,” according to Benny. He added that he doesn’t know when, if ever, they’ll reunite.