“U-571.” “Training Day.” “Fury.” All Written by a submarine sonar technician aboard the USS Haddo.
His name, in case you didn’t already know, is David Ayer. He’s also the director of “End of Watch,” “Suicide Squad,” and the upcoming military K9 film “Heart of the Beast.” His latest stars Brad Pitt as Special Forces officer James Belmont, who must fight to survive the Alaskan wilderness with his retired working dog Odin after a plane crash.
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“Whether it’s a couple soldiers in a tank, two cops in a car, or a retired military operator and his working canine, it’s two beings that have gone through hell and back together and share this deep bond and intimacy,” Ayer told GQ of his filmography. “Working with animals is its own experience, and sometimes you can see the lack of connection when people do these movies, but we really made the dog a living, breathing, fully-formed character, with a soulful presence. And you can feel their history, their connection.”
I’m still carrying childhood trauma from “Homeward Bound” so I do fear I have not the courage to make it through this one, but damn if this isn’t a great trailer for a survival film:
Heart of the Beast | Official Trailer (2026 Movie) – Brad Pitt, J.K. Simmons, Anna Lambe
You’re gonna open with a dog having PTSD nightmares? He’s an amputee?? Pulls his buddy out of an alpine lake after a plane crash??
Killing me. And I’m not the only one.
The internet is already having fun with reactions.
“The submarine force gave me everything I needed to succeed in life,” Ayer has said, and his film work reflects his respect for the military and for veterans.
“U-571” was based on his own experiences, though he recalled in a conversation with BBC that the parallel history in the film is something that he would not do again.
Ayer’s 2014 film “Fury” was another collaboration with Pitt, the commander of a Sherman tank crew making their final push into Nazi Germany: outnumbered, outgunned, and behind enemy lines.
David Ayer knows how to make a gritty action film.
“Heart of the Beast,” I predict, is gonna be a breakout film for screenwriter Cameron Alexander. And while this is his debut feature film, the rest of the team is anything but unknown. Producers include Pitt, Olivia Hamilton (“Babylon”), and Damien Chazelle (“Whiplash”). J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”) and Amber Lambe (“True Detective: Night Country”) also make appearances. Pitt needs no introduction.
But the real star is gonna be Uber, a German Shepard who came from New Zealand (where the movie was filmed), raised by a law enforcement and military breeder who supplies dogs for first responders.
Uber works alongside animal trainer Andrew Simpson, who has also worked with animals on “John Wick,” “Game of Thrones,” and “The Revenant.” The role of Odin, Uber’s character’s name, is a complex role for any pup, even a trained one. Odin wears a prosthetic leg and silver dentures, due to the combat injuries he suffered while serving alongside his SF handler.
As if Uber wasn’t cute enough, his puppy scenes were played by his own puppies: Seeka, Ryker, and Hondo, according to GQ.
Paramount Pictures describes the film as “an intense adventure thriller that explores the unbreakable bond between a man and his best friend as they face their greatest battle yet,” and if you don’t want to buy your ticket without knowing what happens to Odin, the truth is out there.
“I’ve shown the film to a few of my roughneck, tough-guy friends, and they’re crying at the end of this,” Ayer himself said “I’ve never had a film move an audience so powerfully. To sit there and feel them lock in and believe this magic trick of this relationship, it’s reaffirming as a filmmaker. I’m really proud of this as a filmmaker, and I feel like it represents a lot of growth for me. But I’ll probably be the ‘dog guy’ for a while.”
“Heart of the Beast” is set to be released in theaters on Sept. 25, 2026.
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