Like it or not, another 80s classic is getting the remake treatment.48 Hours, the Eddie Murphy action/comedy that kickstarted his film career, is the latest movie to succumb to Hollywood’s current obsession with making what’s old new again. Though, there are some talented filmmakers behind this one.Good Timedirecting duo Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie have been tapped to helm the80s classicremake for Paramount.
There’s no word on how soon Paramount wants to get this remake of48 Hoursin front of cameras, but the creative team sounds like it’s firmly in place already. Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, who co-writeGood Timetogether, are handling scripting duties, with Jerrod Carmichael (The Carmichael Show) also working the script. Three can be a crowd, but it’s been more common to have quite a few writers on board big movies these days. Chernin Entertainment, the production company behind the reboot of thePlanet of the Apes franchise, is on board to produce.
The original48 Hourswas released in 1982 and was directed by legendary filmmaker Walter Hill. In addition to Eddie Murphy, the movie stars Nick Nolte with the pair playing cop and felon, who form an unlikely partnership to capture killers on the run. The promise of a big payday along the way helps drive the unlikely partnership. In addition to being the feature film debut for Murphy,48 Hoursis credited with kick-starting thebuddy cop genre. So this is a very important movie, in addition to being a classic and beloved movie. That means the Safdies are treading on pretty touchy ground.
48 Hourswas a box office success at the time, bringing in $78.8 million worldwide. That may not sound great now, but 30 years ago, that was a lot for acop flick. Not only that, but it was a huge hit with critics, currently holding a 92 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A sequel,Another 48 Hours, was released in 1990, but didn’t fare nearly as well, to say the least. The movie was thrashed by critics, earning a terrible 15 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Though, the movie did bring in $153.5 million worldwide. So Paramount has reason to think there’s money to be made with a remake.
Good Timemay not have made a ton of money, but it’s one of the best-reviewed movies of the year and helped put Benny and Josh Safdie on the map. There’s a lot of talent involved in this48 Hoursremake, let’s just hope it doesn’t turn out like theGhostbusters remakedid. Talent doesn’t equal a good remake, as we’ve seen. The Hollywood Reporter doesn’t reveal who’s being eyed to star just yet, but we’ll be sure to keep you up to date as more details on the project are made available.
