David Ayer

Producer, Writer, Director

David Ayer is a well-respected director, writer, and producer, specializing in police, crime, and military-set dramas and thrillers. Ayer is one of the rare Hollywood filmmakers who amassed his pre-filmmaking experience outside of school and instead in the hard-knock settings of South Central Los Angeles and submarine stints in the U.S. Navy. This background led to his first produced screenplays for the submarine thriller, U-571 (2000), (with director Jonathan Mostow and Sam Montgomery as credited co-writers); Training Day (2001), which earned star Denzel Washington the Best Actor Oscar, and for which Ayer took a co-producer credit.

He also worked on the mega-hit franchise starter, The Fast and the Furious (2001), starring Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster; the Kurt Russell-starring LAPD drama, Dark Blue (2002), which Ayer adapted from a screen story by famed crime novelist James Ellroy; and another LAPD drama, the Clark Johnson-directed big-screen version of S.W.A.T. (2003), with David McKenna as credited co-writer, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Rodriguez, LL Cool J, and Jeremy Renner.

Marking his debut as director/writer/producer, David Ayer made his most overtly autobiographical movie with his South Central Los Angeles-set drama, Harsh Times (2005), starring Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, Eva Longoria, Terry Crews, and J.K. Simmons, and which made a small profit for MGM with a $6 million return after a Toronto film festival premiere. Unlike in the case of Dark Blue, Ayer took on an Ellroy screenplay (with credited co-writers Kurt Wimmer and Jamie Moss) as director only of another LAPD drama, Street Kings (2008), starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, and Common, earning a strong $66.5 million gross in a Fox Searchlight release. Ayer’s second movie as director/writer/producer was one of his most profitable ($58 million gross on $15-million costs) and his latest in a remarkable string of LAPD dramas, End of Watch (2012), starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña, with Anna Kendrick, America Ferrera, Frank Grillo, and David Harbour.

David Ayer pulled off an unusual double-bill of movies in one year as director/writer/producer with Sabotage (2014), delivering poor box office despite Arnold Schwarzenegger leading a cast of fine actors (Sam Worthington, Olivia Williams, Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello, Harold Perrineau, Martin Donovan, Josh Holloway, and Mireille Enos); and followed by Ayer’s first-period movie, the WWII-set Fury (2014), inspired by the experiences of Ayer’s wartime relatives and starring Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, Jason Isaacs, and Scott Eastwood and profiting for Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures with a $212 million global gross.

As writer-director, Ayer made his first comic superhero movie with the third edition of the DC Extended Universe, Suicide Squad (2016), featuring Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and earning a potent $747 million worldwide for Warner Bros./DC Films. After reuniting with Smith for the LAPD/sci-fi mashup for Netflix, Bright (2017), David Ayer was director/writer/producer of the widely panned Los Angeles crime thriller, The Tax Collector (2020), with Bobby Soto, LaBeouf, and George Lopez, which delivered only $1.3 million in grosses on a $30 million budget. Ayer was director-producer of one of his few movies not set in Los Angeles, the revenge thriller The Beekeeper (2024), starring Jason Statham, John Hutcherson, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, and Jeremy Irons, and released by Amazon MGM Studios.

Ayer was director/co-writer (with Sylvester Stallone) of the thriller, A Working Man (2025), based on Chuck Dixon’s 2014 novel, Levon’s Trade, starring Jason Statham (who was also a lead producer), Andrej Kaminsky, Jason Flemyng, Merab Ninidze, Michael Pena, and David Harbour, produced (in part) by Black Bear, and grossing $89 million for distributors Amazon MGM Studios (U.S., U.K.)/Warner Bros. Pictures (U.K.). Ayer directed and was a lead producer of the survival thriller, Heart of the Beast (2026), starring Brad Pitt (who was also a lead producer), with J.K. Simmons and Anna Lambe (along with co-star Uber as Odin the Dog), produced (in part) by Temple Hill Entertainment and released wide by Paramount Pictures, after premiering out of competition at the San Sebastián Film Festival.

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Movies

End of Watch - NO. 1

EXCLUSIVE SUICIDE SQUAD: AYER CUT CLIP

David Ayer on filmmaking: “life experience can be more valuable than a formal education"

EXCLUSIVE Suicide Squad: David Ayer Red Carpet interview

Known For

End of Watch

(2012)

Sabotage

(2014)

Suicide Squad

(2016)

Harsh Times

(2005)

David Ayer Movies

Director

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Previous (8)

2026 |
Heart of the Beast
Heart of the Beast
2026
Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
After a harrowing plane crash, a Special Forces officer and his combat dog find themselves stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. Together, they are forced into a brutal fight for survival against the elements.
More Info Watch Now
2025 |
A Working Man
A Working Man
2025
Action, Thriller
Levon Cade left his profession behind to work construction and be a good dad to his daughter. But when a local girl vanishes, he's asked to return to the skills that made him a mythic figure in the shadowy world of counter-terrorism.
More Info Watch Now
2024 |
The Beekeeper
The Beekeeper
2024
Action, Crime, Thriller
A kind-hearted landlady commits suicide after falling victim to a phishing scam, leading former "Beekeeper" operative Adam Clay to set out on a brutal campaign for revenge upon those responsible.
More Info Watch Now
2020 |
The Tax Collector
The Tax Collector
2020
Action, Crime, Drama
A "tax collector" working for a local crime lord finds his family's safety compromised when the rival of his boss shows up in L.A. and upends the business.
More Info Watch Now
2016 |
Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad
2016
Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse.
More Info Watch Now
2014 |
Sabotage
Sabotage
2014
Action, Crime, Drama
Members of an elite DEA task force find themselves being taken down one by one after they rob a drug cartel safe house.
More Info Watch Now
2014 |
Fury
Fury
2014
Action, Drama, War
A grizzled tank commander makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.
More Info Watch Now
2012 |
End of Watch
End of Watch
2012
Action, Crime, Drama
Shot documentary-style, this film follows the daily grind of two young police officers in LA who are partners and friends and what happens when they meet criminal forces greater than themselves.
More Info Watch Now

Producer

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Previous (6)

2025 |
A Working Man
A Working Man
2025
Action, Thriller
Levon Cade left his profession behind to work construction and be a good dad to his daughter. But when a local girl vanishes, he's asked to return to the skills that made him a mythic figure in the shadowy world of counter-terrorism.
More Info Watch Now
2024 |
The Beekeeper
The Beekeeper
2024
Action, Crime, Thriller
A kind-hearted landlady commits suicide after falling victim to a phishing scam, leading former "Beekeeper" operative Adam Clay to set out on a brutal campaign for revenge upon those responsible.
More Info Watch Now
2020 |
The Tax Collector
The Tax Collector
2020
Action, Crime, Drama
A "tax collector" working for a local crime lord finds his family's safety compromised when the rival of his boss shows up in L.A. and upends the business.
More Info Watch Now
2014 |
Sabotage
Sabotage
2014
Action, Crime, Drama
Members of an elite DEA task force find themselves being taken down one by one after they rob a drug cartel safe house.
More Info Watch Now
2014 |
Fury
Fury
2014
Action, Drama, War
A grizzled tank commander makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.
More Info Watch Now
2012 |
End of Watch
End of Watch
2012
Action, Crime, Drama
Shot documentary-style, this film follows the daily grind of two young police officers in LA who are partners and friends and what happens when they meet criminal forces greater than themselves.
More Info Watch Now

Writer

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Previous (5)

2020 |
The Tax Collector
The Tax Collector
2020
Action, Crime, Drama
A "tax collector" working for a local crime lord finds his family's safety compromised when the rival of his boss shows up in L.A. and upends the business.
More Info Watch Now
2016 |
Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad
2016
Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse.
More Info Watch Now
2014 |
Sabotage
Sabotage
2014
Action, Crime, Drama
Members of an elite DEA task force find themselves being taken down one by one after they rob a drug cartel safe house.
More Info Watch Now
2014 |
Fury
Fury
2014
Action, Drama, War
A grizzled tank commander makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.
More Info Watch Now
2012 |
End of Watch
End of Watch
2012
Action, Crime, Drama
Shot documentary-style, this film follows the daily grind of two young police officers in LA who are partners and friends and what happens when they meet criminal forces greater than themselves.
More Info Watch Now

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