Brothers Benny and Josh Safdie made their names together as directors on such projects as “Daddy Longlegs,” the Robert Pattinson-led “Good Time” and the Adam Sandler-led “Uncut Gems”. With the exception of Josh’s first film in 2008, they’ve always directed together.
In addition, Benny Safdie has also become an in-demand supporting actor with roles in films like “Licorice Pizza,” “Pieces of a Woman,” “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and this week’s “Oppenheimer”.
Back in May came the news the pair are splitting up as a directing duo for the moment (not unlike the Coens) as each pursues their own things.
Benny Safdie is pursuing his acting interests for the moment, whilst Josh Safdie is solo directing a forthcoming sports memorabilia-themed Netflix feature starring Adam Sandler, Gael Garcia Bernal and Megan Thee Stallion.
In a new interview with GQ, Benny Safdie confirms he isn’t involved in directing that film even as the production company Elara Pictures, which the brothers run together, is. Benny explains why they’re splitting up for now:
“Elara is still there. We work on a lot of documentaries, and there’s just a constant flow of ideas. It just felt like, OK, there are things that I want to explore that don’t necessarily align right now with Josh.
So it’s a divide-and-conquer mentality. He wants to tell this story. He can go and do that. I’m going to go and do a couple of other things. It seems like a natural progression of how things have happened. It was just a matter of, ‘This works for me right now, and this is what I’ve got to do.'”
The release date for the untitled Josh Safdie-directed film is unknown, but Benny’s name will still be attached as co-writer and producer. Benny also recently co-created, co-show runs and stars in Nathan Fielder’s new Showtime series “The Curse” which co-stars Emma Stone.
