David Ayer is a filmmaker that tends to draw an immediate reaction from film fans. Either you love him and respect his work on films such as “Training Day” and “End of Watch” or you are a bit disgusted when you remember “Suicide Squad” or “Bright.” Needless to say, there are very few out there that are just “meh” on the guy. So, when it was announced that Ayer was remaking “The Dirty Dozen,” film fans were, once again, torn. Would this be a return to form for the director or just another entry in the long list of disappointing remakes that plague Hollywood?
READ MORE: David Ayer In Negotiations To Write & Direct A Modern-Day Remake Of ‘The Dirty Dozen’
Well, we’re here to report that those a bit hesitant about Ayer’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ are probably going to be a bit concerned by the new interview he gave with Collider about his direction for the remake. While you may be hoping the filmmaker is going for a more gritty, realistic war film, Ayer has other things in mind. Much higher aspirations, actually. Billion-dollar mega-franchise aspirations, to be more specific.
“I think it’s just an opportunity for a great ensemble action franchise,” said Ayer. “I’ll have a really solid lead character, and I see it in the vein of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ movies, or the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, for which I wrote the first one. It’s like anything, you build an amazing family of characters, and then you watch them bounce off of each other and drive each other crazy.”
READ MORE: David Ayer Denies Reports Of Being Unhappy With Jared Leto’s Joker Performance
As for why the filmmaker is taking the classic World War II film and updating it, placing the story in a modern setting, Ayer explains that it opens up a lot more opportunity for the film. (Remember, we’re talking mega-franchise here!)
“I think it’s more open and exciting,” he explained. “For me, World War II is the Holy War. To do a more fun, comedic version of that war, I don’t think I could pull that off. But absolutely, I can do that present day, and have that fun and anarchy and wildness, and have modern characters with incredible diversity and real voices.”
There’s still not much known about the upcoming ‘Dirty Dozen’ remake. But if Ayer is being honest with his ambitions, you can expect that he’s going to sign up some big names to lead what could be the next ‘Mission: Impossible’ or ‘Fast & Furious.’ We’ll just have to wait and see.