David Ayer

Directing

David Ayer

Born

1968-01-18 (58)

Place of birth

Champaign, Illinois, USA

Known for

Directing

Credits

49 titles

David Ayer (born January 18, 1968) is an American filmmaker known for making crime films that are set in Los Angeles and deal with gangs and police corruption. His screenplays include Training Day (2001), The Fast and the Furious (2001), and S.W.A.T. (2003). He has also directed Harsh Times (2005), Street Kings (2008), End of Watch (2012), Sabotage (2014), and The Beekeeper (2024). In 2016, he directed the superhero movie Suicide Squad from the DC Extended Universe and then the urban fantasy film Bright (2017) for Netflix. He has twice collaborated with actor Shia LaBeouf: first with the World War II drama Fury (2014), then the crime thriller The Tax Collector (2020). He has also collaborate…

Known for

Film credits

2000s · 7 titles

Behind the camera

Heart of the Beast poster
7.4

After a harrowing plane crash, Special Forces officer James Belmont and his combat dog, Odin, find themselves stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. Together, they are forced into a brutal fight for survival against the elements.

Heart of the Beast

2026

Heart of the Beast poster
7.4

After a harrowing plane crash, Special Forces officer James Belmont and his combat dog, Odin, find themselves stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. Together, they are forced into a brutal fight for survival against the elements.

Heart of the Beast

2026

The Beekeeper poster
7.3

One man's campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as Beekeepers.

The Beekeeper

2024

The Beekeeper poster
7.3

One man's campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as Beekeepers.

The Beekeeper

2024

Fury poster
7.5

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened army sergeant commands a Sherman tank with a five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

Fury

2014

Fury poster
7.5

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened army sergeant commands a Sherman tank with a five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

Fury

2014

Fury poster
7.5

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened army sergeant commands a Sherman tank with a five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

Fury

2014

Training Day poster
7.5

On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears.

Training Day

2001

A Working Man poster
6.7

Levon Cade left behind a decorated military career in the black ops to live a simple life working construction. But when his boss's daughter, who is like family to him, is taken by human traffickers, his search to bring her home uncovers a world of corruption far greater than he ever could have imagined.

A Working Man

2025

A Working Man poster
6.7

Levon Cade left behind a decorated military career in the black ops to live a simple life working construction. But when his boss's daughter, who is like family to him, is taken by human traffickers, his search to bring her home uncovers a world of corruption far greater than he ever could have imagined.

A Working Man

2025

A Working Man poster
6.7

Levon Cade left behind a decorated military career in the black ops to live a simple life working construction. But when his boss's daughter, who is like family to him, is taken by human traffickers, his search to bring her home uncovers a world of corruption far greater than he ever could have imagined.

A Working Man

2025

Suicide Squad poster
5.9

From DC Comics comes the Suicide Squad, an antihero team of incarcerated supervillains who act as deniable assets for the United States government, undertaking high-risk black ops missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences.

Suicide Squad

2016

Suicide Squad poster
5.9

From DC Comics comes the Suicide Squad, an antihero team of incarcerated supervillains who act as deniable assets for the United States government, undertaking high-risk black ops missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences.

Suicide Squad

2016

Street Kings poster
6.7

Tom Ludlow is a disillusioned L.A. Police Officer, rarely playing by the rules and haunted by the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he's been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.

Street Kings

2008

End of Watch poster
7.4

Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.

End of Watch

2012

End of Watch poster
7.4

Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.

End of Watch

2012

End of Watch poster
7.4

Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.

End of Watch

2012

S.W.A.T. poster
6.2

Hondo Harrelson recruits Jim Street to join an elite unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. Together they seek out more members, including tough Deke Kay and single mom Chris Sanchez. The team's first big assignment is to escort crime boss Alex Montel to prison. It seems routine, but when Montel offers a huge reward to anyone who can break him free, criminals of various stripes step up for the prize.

S.W.A.T.

2003

No artwork available
NR

A man has no memory, no past, and no name — and only one face he can’t forget: Eliza. As fragments of his identity return, he discovers he was trained for a mission still in motion and is being hunted by the very people who sent him. With enemies closing in, John must choose between finishing what he started… or protecting the one thing that makes him feel human: love.

John Doe

2028

Sabotage poster
5.6

John 'Breacher' Wharton leads an elite DEA task force that takes on the world's deadliest drug cartels. When the team successfully executes a high-stakes raid on a cartel safe house, they think their work is done – until, one-by-one, the team members mysteriously start to be eliminated. As the body count rises, everyone is a suspect.

Sabotage

2014

Sabotage poster
5.6

John 'Breacher' Wharton leads an elite DEA task force that takes on the world's deadliest drug cartels. When the team successfully executes a high-stakes raid on a cartel safe house, they think their work is done – until, one-by-one, the team members mysteriously start to be eliminated. As the body count rises, everyone is a suspect.

Sabotage

2014

Sabotage poster
5.6

John 'Breacher' Wharton leads an elite DEA task force that takes on the world's deadliest drug cartels. When the team successfully executes a high-stakes raid on a cartel safe house, they think their work is done – until, one-by-one, the team members mysteriously start to be eliminated. As the body count rises, everyone is a suspect.

Sabotage

2014

The Tax Collector poster
5.7

David Cuevas is an Indigenous Latino American family man who works as a gangland tax collector for high ranking Los Angeles gang members. He makes collections across the city with his partner Creeper making sure people pay up or will see retaliation. An old threat returns to Los Angeles that puts everything David loves in harm’s way.

The Tax Collector

2020

The Tax Collector poster
5.7

David Cuevas is an Indigenous Latino American family man who works as a gangland tax collector for high ranking Los Angeles gang members. He makes collections across the city with his partner Creeper making sure people pay up or will see retaliation. An old threat returns to Los Angeles that puts everything David loves in harm’s way.

The Tax Collector

2020

Bright poster
6.2

In an alternate present-day where magical creatures live among us, two L.A. cops become embroiled in a prophesied turf battle.

Bright

2017

Bright poster
6.2

In an alternate present-day where magical creatures live among us, two L.A. cops become embroiled in a prophesied turf battle.

Bright

2017

Bright poster
6.2

In an alternate present-day where magical creatures live among us, two L.A. cops become embroiled in a prophesied turf battle.

Bright

2017

U-571 poster
6.6

In the midst of World War II, the battle under the sea rages and the Nazis have the upper hand as the Allies are unable to crack their war codes. However, after a wrecked U-boat sends out an SOS signal, the Allies realise this is their chance to seize the 'enigma coding machine'.

U-571

2000

Harsh Times poster
6.4

Jim Davis is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates. His best friend is pressured by his girlfriend Sylvia to find a job, but Jim is more interested in hanging out and making cash from small heists, while trying to get a law enforcement job so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend.

Harsh Times

2005

Harsh Times poster
6.4

Jim Davis is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates. His best friend is pressured by his girlfriend Sylvia to find a job, but Jim is more interested in hanging out and making cash from small heists, while trying to get a law enforcement job so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend.

Harsh Times

2005

Harsh Times poster
6.4

Jim Davis is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates. His best friend is pressured by his girlfriend Sylvia to find a job, but Jim is more interested in hanging out and making cash from small heists, while trying to get a law enforcement job so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend.

Harsh Times

2005

Dark Blue poster
6.2

Set during the Rodney King riots, a robbery homicide investigation triggers a series of events that will cause a corrupt LAPD officer to question his tactics.

Dark Blue

2002

The Fast and the Furious poster
7.0

Dominic Toretto is a Los Angeles street racer suspected of masterminding a series of big-rig hijackings. When undercover cop Brian O'Conner infiltrates Toretto's iconoclastic crew, he falls for Toretto's sister and must choose a side: the gang or the LAPD.

The Fast and the Furious

2001

No artwork available
NR

An adaptation from David Ayer of Harlen Coben's novel of the same name.

Six Years

—

No artwork available
NR

An adaptation from David Ayer of Harlen Coben's novel of the same name.

Six Years

—

No artwork available
NR

An adaptation from David Ayer of Harlen Coben's novel of the same name.

Six Years

—

The Dirty Dozen poster
NR

The contemporary remake of the 1967 classic war pic.

The Dirty Dozen

—

The Dirty Dozen poster
NR

The contemporary remake of the 1967 classic war pic.

The Dirty Dozen

—

The Dirty Dozen poster
NR

The contemporary remake of the 1967 classic war pic.

The Dirty Dozen

—