QED Pays $1 Million For David Ayer WWII Spec Script ‘Fury’
BREAKING: In what amounts to the biggest spec deal so far this year, Bill Block‘s QED International has paid $1 million for Fury, a WWII spec script by End Of Watch writer/director David Ayer. Ayer will direct, and QED will produce with John Lesher and his Le Grisbi Productions banner. Ethan Smith, Block and Lesher are producing and they are eyeing a fall production start. QED is selling foreign.
The action takes place in 1945 as the Nazi regime collapses and the five man crew of an American tank called Fury battles a desperate German army. Ayer and QED reteam after the action thriller Ten, which Ayer directed and which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington and Mireille Enos. Open Road will release it next January. Lesher produced Ayer’s End Of Watch.
Describing his project, Ayer said his goal is to “bring a fresh execution to the genre. What these men went through is worthy of a complex, honest portrayal. This will have incredible, visceral action and complex rich characters. I plan to bring tank combat to life in a way that lands with a modern audience.”
Block would not confirm the dollar figure, but acknowledged this was QED’s biggest material deal ever. “Fury is not your father’s WWII movie, it digs deep into the complexities of battlefield heroism,” he said.
Aside from Ten, QED also shot Fading Gigolo with John Turturro and Woody Allen, and the Jacki Weaver-starrer Haunt. CAA and David Weber made Ayer’s deal.
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