Diamanti Grezzi — 2019

Watch how the Safdie brothers and their cast brought this intense world to life through meticulous research and authentic casting:

: 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 . Diamanti grezzi 2019

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. Watch how the Safdie brothers and their cast

: 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. It follows Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a Jewish-American

: 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.

: The unique, angular house used for Howard's family home was also used as Freddie Mercury's house in Bohemian Rhapsody .

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"