After back-to-back team-ups with Jason Statham on The Beekeeper and the upcoming actioner A Working Man, David Ayer will be entering the Heart of the Beast with a familiar partner. Per Deadline, Paramount has closed a deal with Brad Pitt to have the two-time Oscar winner lead Ayer‘s new adventure flick, which was announced last March. He’s set to produce the film under his Plan B banner too, joining a team that’s already loaded with talent between Damien Chazelle and Olivia Hamilton, whose Wild Chickens Productions banner is also attached, and writer Cameron Alexander.
Heart of the Beast will be a survival story following an Army Special Forces Soldier and his retired combat dog after a plane crash leaves them stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. They’re forced to battle the harsh environment as they try to make the trek back to civilization. Little else is known about the film at this time, but it’ll mark a big reunion for Ayer and Pitt, who last worked with each other nearly 11 years ago on the World War II film Fury. Given their last collaboration became a major hit with solid reviews, a Critics Choice Award nomination for Pitt, and a box office haul of $211.8 million, expectations will be high for the pair to deliver once more, especially with the high-profile crew assembled.
What Else Have Pitt and Ayer Been Working On?
Pitt remains as busy as ever between his duties as an actor and a producer. He enters Heart of the Beast coming off of a buzzy team-up with his Ocean’s Eleven co-star George Clooney and director Jon Watts for Apple TV+‘s crime thriller comedy Wolfs. On the production end, he’s recently lent his name to, among other things, the biopic Bob Marley: One Love and Tim Burton‘s box office smash sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, as well as recent Best Picture nominee Nickel Boys as an executive producer. This year, he’s set to race in Joseph Kosinski‘s Formula One drama F1 on June 27, and he could soon return to thieving as “Rusty” Ryan in Ocean’s 14 after it was announced that David Leitch was circling the director’s chair earlier this week.
As for Ayer, the main focus has remained A Working Man. Co-written by Sylvester Stallone and adapted from Chuck Dixon‘s novel Levon’s Trade, which was also the film’s original name, it’ll be another action thriller affair for Statham that places him in the work boots of the titular Levon Cade. Formerly a decorated black ops specialist, he’s since retired to a humble life working in construction until human traffickers kidnap his boss’s daughter. He decides to use his skills once more to bring her home, but his search uncovers a more deep-rooted corruption than he was prepared for. It promises some peak Statham goodness with a bit of heart and a supporting cast including Jason Flemyng, Michael Peña, David Harbour, and Maximilian Osinski. Theaters will welcome the film on March 28.
via Collider