A24, the New York-based independent entertainment company founded by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges has just scooped up the worldwide rights to UNCUT GEMS, a thriller set to be directed by both Josh and Benny Safdie (THE PLEASURE OF BEING ROBBED, DADDY LONGLEGS). Alongside the announcement of the film, it's also been revealed that Jonah Hill (WAR DOGS, MONEYBALL) is set to star in the project with Eli Bush of Scott Rudin Productions poised to produce the film with Sebastian Bear-McClard and Oscar Boyson from Elara Pictures. It's also worth noting that Martin Scorsese and Emma Tillinger Koskoff will be acting as executive producers on the deal.
As far as we know, UNCUT GEMS will be presented as an original story set in the venal, mile-a-minute world of the New York City Diamond District. Hill will assume the role of Howard Ratner, the man at the center of the UNCUT GEMS drama. Based on an original screenplay by Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, and Josh Safdie, UNCUT GEMS will present yet another opportunity for Hill to shed his old rude boy comedy persona by providing him with a chance to flex his more dramatic acting muscles even more.
For his next starring gig, Jonah will star in Ezra Edelman's THE BALLAD OF RICHARD JEWELL, which features a story about an American security guard who heroically saved thousands of lives from an exploding bomb at the 1996 Olympics, but who is then unjustly vilified by journalists and the press who falsely reported that he was a terrorist.