In the heart of the wilderness

Director David Ayer believes that no great story should go untold. When he read the screenplay In the Heart of the Wild, he knew right away that he was the one who wanted to tell it. “It was just one of the best texts I've ever read,” he says. “He really made me cringe. I had to stop reading from time to time to digest it all, and only then would I go back to the next pages.”

The director is known for dynamic, raw stories about brotherhood and determination, such as the wartime action film Fury and the realistic, documentary-styled police drama Gods of the Street.

In James Belmont (Brad Pitt) and a dog named Odin, he sees brothers in arms — two comrades willing to do anything to keep the other alive.