‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘Bright’ director David Ayer has entered into negotiations to helm the remake the 1967 action thriller ‘The Dirty Dozen’.
In the original film, set during World War 2 and based on the E.M. Nathanson novel, the film centred on a top-secret mission before the Normandy Invasion, where a group of hardened Army prisoners were trained to conduct a suicide mission — to stage an assault on a chateau in Brittany, where dozens of high-ranking German officers were meeting.
Starring Lee Marvin, the ensemble supporting cast was made up of Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Robert Webber and Donald Sutherland.
Three years after ‘The Dirty Dozen’ was released, ‘Too Late the Hero’, a film also directed by Robert Aldrich, was described as a “kind of sequel to The Dirty Dozen“. The 1969 Michael Caine film ‘Play Dirty’ follows a similar theme of convicts-recruited-as-soldiers.
The remake is said to have ditched that setting and will bring it up to date to appeal to a contemporary market. Ayer would also write the screenplay in which Simon Kinberg will produce alongside Ayer.
Also in news – Pierce Brosnan cast in Sony musical ‘Cinderella’
Ayer was at the helm for ‘Suicide Squad’, which, despite its negative reviews, still garnered a whopping $750 million dollars at the worldwide box office. He then went on to direct Netflix film ‘Bright’ which saw him reunite with Will Smith, a sequel for that film has been commissioned. He will also return to helm the picture. He is currently filming a number of episodes for the crime drama TV series ‘Deputy’.
