Around two years ago came reports that “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems” writer/directors Josh and Benny Safdie had become attached to both pen and direct a remake of Walter Hill’s 1980s action comedy “48 Hours”.

Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte starred in the Joel Silver-produced original as a convict and cop, respectively, who must team up to catch a pair of cop killers within two days.

Since that original report however there’s been little movement on the project. This week, speaking with Movieweb, Josh Safdie confirmed that they’re off the project and revealed that they penned a few drafts with the studio and: “it became very clear that we don’t know how to do a remake. We only know how to do our own ideas”.

As a result, some of the ideas that came from their work will be shifted over into something original the Safdie’s will do. They confirm they are talking to at least one studio now about doing just that. Safdie also says he’s not against remakes per se as one of his favourite films is Scorsese’s “Cape Fear” remake.

Safdie also says he spoke with Walter Hill recently, Hill had just seen both of the Safdie’s films, and explained to him that they were hired to do a “48 Hours” remake. Hill responded: “I was so confused because I’ve seen your movies now and these guys are definitely not short of any original ideas. Why do they need to remake something?”

It’s not clear if the studio intends to continue with the project in the wake of the Safdie’s departure.