: The film is loosely based on the Safdies' father, who worked as a runner in the Manhattan Diamond District for a man actually named Howard.
: To ensure realism, the directors used many first-time actors cast right off the street or from the Diamond District. This includes Julia Fox , who made her acting debut as Howard's mistress, and Maksud Agadjani , a real jeweler who played Howard's assistant.
The 2019 film (titled Diamanti grezzi in Italian) is a high-tension crime thriller directed by Josh and Benny Safdie . It follows Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a Jewish-American jeweler in New York's Diamond District, who risks everything on a rare Ethiopian black opal to settle his gambling debts. Diamanti grezzi 2019
: Jonah Hill was actually cast in 2017. However, the Safdies struggled to "youth down" the character for him, and Hill eventually left to direct his own film, Mid90s .
Below are some of the most interesting facts about the film's ten-year journey to the screen and the extreme measures taken to achieve its "feature-length panic attack" energy: Casting "What-Ifs" : The film is loosely based on the
: The role of the basketball star was originally written with Kobe Bryant in mind, but he was only interested in directing. Joel Embiid was also cast, but had to drop out when filming moved into the actual NBA season. Authentic New York Details
: The basketball game Howard bets on—the Celtics vs. 76ers in May 2012—is real. The Safdies chose it because Kevin Garnett had an incredible performance that aligned perfectly with their script. Production Grit The 2019 film (titled Diamanti grezzi in Italian)
: During a kidnapping scene, the first-time actors beating up Sandler accidentally choked him. Because Sandler was so "in character," they didn't realize he was actually tapping out until the stunt coordinator intervened.