Eddie Murphy Movie Remake by Safdies Got Rejected for a Sad Reason

The Safdie Brothers were prepared to helm a remake of 48 Hrs., the 1982 buddy cop movie starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte. However, the project never materialized.

What happened to the 48 Hrs. remake?

In 2017, Josh and Benny Safdie chose the 48 Hrs. remake as their next project. The announcement came shortly after the success of Good Time, a chaotic thriller starring Robert Pattinson. Jerrod Carmichael, the creator of The Carmichael Show, was attached to write the 48 Hrs. remake with the Safdies.

After writing a few scripts, the Safdie Brothers’ remake was scrapped by Paramount. While promoting Marty Supreme, Josh explained how originality in their 48 Hrs. script led to its downfall.

“Why I’m giving you the kind of more emotional, intellectual response is to try to shine a light as to how hard it is,” Josh Safdie told Deadline. “I think it’s much easier to, as Ronnie was saying earlier, it’d be great if I could, we did that, we wrote a remake of 48 Hrs. for Paramount, and they read it, and they were like, ‘This isn’t a remake. What is this? This is an original film.’ We’re like, ‘Sorry, we tried.’”

In 48 Hrs., hard-nosed cop Jack Cates (Nolte) teams with the incarcerated thief Reggie Hammond (Murphy) to capture a pair of criminals. Cates must do it in 48 hours before returning Hammond to prison.

Directed by Walter Hill, 48 Hrs. became a phenomenon. It’s considered Murphy’s breakout as a movie star and it elevated Nolte’s career. 48 Hrs. received positive acclaim and grossed over $78 million on a $12 million budget.

The success spawned a sequel, 1990’s Another 48 Hrs. Despite grossing $153 million worldwide, Another 48 Hrs. was panned by critics.

As of 2025, a third 48 Hrs. movie or a 48 Hrs. remake have never been made.

Source: Comingsoon.net