Open Road Films will release David Ayer‘s cop drama End of Watch open September 28th. Per the press release, “the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as young Los Angeles police officers Taylor and Zavala as they patrol the city’s meanest streets of south central Los Angeles.” The film also stars Anna Kendrick, Frank Grillo, and America Ferrera. When Steve visited the set last year, he said in his report, “End of Watch is going to look and feel completely different than any cop movie you’ve ever seen and I left excited by what I saw.”
At the box office, the September 28th release date puts End of Watch up against Rian Johnson‘s sci-fi action film Looper, the dramas Trouble with the Curve starring Clint Eastwood, and Won’t Back Down (formerly titled Still I Rise) starring Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Here’s the press release and the official synopsis:
“END OF WATCH” WILL OPEN SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 IN THEATERS NATIONWIDE
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY DAVID AYER, BOLD & INNOVATIVE COP DRAMA STARS JAKE GYLLENHAAL AND MICHAEL PEÑA
LOS ANGELES, CA, March 2, 2012 – Open Road Films has set September 28, 2012 for the nationwide release of Exclusive Media’s, in association with Emmett/Furla Films, highly-anticipated film, End Of Watch, which stars Academy Award® nominee Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Academy Award® nominee Anna Kendrick, Frank Grillo and America Ferrera and is written and directed by David Ayer (writer/director of Street Kings and Harsh Times; screenwriter of Training Day, The Fast and the Furious and S.W.A.T.).
A powerful story of family, friendship, love, honor and courage, End Of Watch stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as young Los Angeles police officers Taylor and Zavala as they patrol the city’s meanest streets of south central Los Angeles.
Giving the story a gripping, first-person immediacy, the action unfolds entirely through footage from the handheld HD cameras of the police officers, gang members, surveillance cameras, and citizens caught in the line of fire to create a riveting portrait of the city’s most dangerous corners, the cops who risk their lives there every day, and the price they and their families are forced to pay.
End of Watch is produced by David Ayer’s Crave Films, John Lesher under his Le Grisbi Productions, and Nigel Sinclair and Matt Jackson of Exclusive Media who also financed the film, in association with Emmett/Furla Films. Exclusive Media holds worldwide distribution rights. Executive producers are Guy East and Exclusive Media’s Tobin Armbrust, Jake Gyllenhaal, Adam Kassan, Chrisann Verges, Randall Emmett and George Furla of Emmett/Furla Films, Stepan Martirosyan and Remington Chase.
Deadline reports that Open Road will do “End of Watch” distribution and plan for a release later this year with a commitment to a 2,000-screen run!
Open Road Makes $2M Deal With $20M P&A For David Ayer’s ‘End Of Watch’
Open Road is closing a deal for U.S. distribution rights to End Of Watch, the David Ayer-directed cop drama that stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena and Anna Kendrick. I’m told that Open Road will release the film later this year. They’ve committed to a 2,000-screen run, with a minimum guarantee just north of $2 million and a $20 million P&A commitment.
It is not quite as sizable commitment as Open Road made when it acquired The Grey for $8 million with a $25 million P&A commitment, but it is substantial, and evidence that when Tom Ortenberg sees a film he can market, he goes after it hard. The Grey has so far grossed $50 million domestic.
Ayer, who wrote Training Day and wrote and directed the cop dramas Harsh Times and Street Kings, began this film as a “found footage” type drama about two LAPD partners and best friends. The story was to be told from the vantage point of surveillance cameras and the camera mounted on the front of every patrol car. That evolved into more of a traditional narrative, but a lot of the vantage point still comes from cameras that give the film a first person feel. (more…)
A powerful story of family, friendship, love, honor and courage, End Of Watch stars Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as young Los Angeles police officers Taylor and Zavala as they patrol the city’s meanest streets of south central Los Angeles.
Giving the story a gripping, first-person immediacy, the action unfolds entirely through footage from the handheld HD cameras of the police officers, gang members, surveillance cameras, and citizens caught in the line of fire to create a riveting portrait of the city’s darkest, most violent corners, the cops who risk their lives there every day, and the price they and their families are forced to pay.
This is the official synopsis of the film revealed by collider along with the first official photos. Sadly no pics of Anna were included but you can take a look at them below:
Also the site posted 20 Things to Know About End of Watch:
- - End of Watch is a true indie. While you might think actors like Gyllenhaal and Pena playing the leads means the movie is being produced by a major studio, but that’s not the case Instead, former Paramount head John Lesher (who produced films such as No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood and Babel) has started his own label and this is the first film under its umbrella. End of Watch was financed by Exclusive Media Group, the same folks who produced George Clooney’s The Ides of March.
- - The shoot is scheduled for 22 days. I was on set for day 19. Keep in mind, a “studio” movie can run 40 to 90 days.
Kendrick will play the wife of Jake Gyllenhaal
EXCLUSIVE: Anna Kendrick and Natalie Martinez are in negotiations to co-star in “End of Watch” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena.
Pic will be written and directed by David Ayer.
Story follows the longtime partnership of two LAPD officers as they confront marriage, love, fatherhood and the harsh realities of the Los Angeles streets. Kendrick and Martinez will play the officers’ love interest.
Ayers and John Lesher will produce through Ayer’s Crave Films and Lesher’s Le Grisbi Productions.
Exclusive Films International is handling worldwide sales of the pic and the film is expected to go into production sometime this summer.
Kendrick can be seen next in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1″ as well as “50/50″ starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Seth Rogen.
Martinez was most recently seen as Det. Sanchez on ABC’s “Detroit 1-8-7.”
She is repped by CAA and Barnes, Morris, Mark, Yorn & Levine. Martinez is repped by WME and Kritzer Levine Wilkins Griffin Entertainment.
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