David Ayer has so far been known for gritty thrillers set in an urban milieu – he wrote Training Day, for example, and directed Harsh Times and Street Kings. So it’s a bit of a welcome surprise to see that he’s stretching a lot by signing on to write and direct sci-fi action thriller, Last Man.
There’s just one small problem – the story, in which a hardened captain must lead an inexperienced band of American soldiers in a desperate last stand against an alien race on an outpost on a distant planet, seems a little familiar. We’re getting strong Starship Troopers meets Zulu vibes, for example.
Then again, Ayer has made a career out of subverting expectations – after all, on paper Training Day just seemed like another cop movie. So we’re more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Mind you, it likely won’t happen for a while – he hasn’t even written the thing yet. He’ll get onto that once he finishes up the script for Deep Sea Cowboys, a true-life thriller for DreamWorks.
Last Man, meanwhile, is a 20th Century Fox joint, co-financed with New Regency. Erwin Stoff and Scott Stuber will produce.