There’s nothing wrong with having a niche, as long as you’re good at what you do, and it’s fair to say that David Ayer has found his. The ex-navy submariner broke through with the script for the WW2 actioner “U-571” (as well as another, autobiographical submarine-themed script, “Squids,” which David Fincher was considering making a decade ago), but ever since then, he’s planted his flag firmly in the cop drama camp.
His script for “Training Day” won Denzel Washington an Oscar, and since then he’s stayed firmly within his wheelhouse, penning “S.W.A.T.” and “Dark Blue,” and directing the underrated “Harsh Times,” and the disappointing “Street Kings.” None are exactly Sidney Lumet, but we’ve got a soft-spot for the genre, and we hope he’ll knock it out of the park one day — and now, he’s teaming with a big name for another stab.
Variety reports that Ayer is writing and directing “End of Watch,” a new cop drama, and that Jake Gyllenhaal is attached to star. Plot details are being kept under wraps, other than it being “gritty,” and focusing on the friendship between two longtime partners within the force. Ayer’s producing through his Crave Films banner, alongside former Paramount boss John Lesher.
Ayer was announced last year as the writer-director of a remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle “Commando,’ but it’s unclear whether that’ll come first — word’s been quiet on that for some time, and the fact that this has cast attached suggests it might be further along down the road. It’s also unclear whether this will put Gyllenhaal out of the running for “The Bourne Legacy,” which he was linked to last week. We’re sure more news on this project will follow any day now.
