Draft:David Ayer's unrealized projects

The following is a list of unproduced David Ayer projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American filmmaker David Ayer has worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.

contemporary Wild Bunch remake
On November 4, 2005, Ayer was set to write and direct the modern-day remake of The Wild Bunch with Jerry Weintraub and Mark Vahradian producing the film, and Warner Bros. set to distribute the movie, but never materalized.

Cash Truck remake
On October 9, 2008, Ayer was hired to co-write with Andrew Kevin Walker the American remake of Cash Truck entitled Armored for F. Gary Gray to direct, with Eric Bana in talks to star, Millenium Films producing the movie and Paramount Pictures set to distribute, which eventually became Guy Ritchie's Wrath of Man.

Deep Sea Cowboys film
On February 13, 2009, Ayer was set to write the feature film adaptation of the Wired article "Deep Sea Cowboys," about a salvage crew with Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Holly Bario, Jonathan Eirich, Pete Chiarelli, and Steven Puri set to produce and DreamWorks distributing the movie.

Last Man
On March 9, 2009, Ayer was set to write and direct the sci-fi action film "Last Man," with Erwin Stoff, Scott Stuber, and Pam Abdy set to produce the movie through New Regency and 20th Century Fox distributing the movie.

Commando reboot
On April 28, 2010, Ayer was set to direct and write a reboot of Commando with Erwin Stoff and John Davis producing, and 20th Century Fox distributing the movie.

Scarface remake
On May 19, 2017, Ayer was set to direct a remake of "Scarface," with Diego Luna set to star, with a screenplay draft from Jon Herman and the Coen brothers, Dylan Clark will produce and Universal Pictures would distribute. On July 12, 2017, Ayer left the movie.

Family Crimes TV series
On November 15, 2017, Ayer was set to direct, executive produce and write "Family Crimes," a Latina crime drama series with Jerry Bruckheimer producing and Starz set to air the series. On April 27, 2018, Starz passed on the series.

The Bone Church TV series
On February 23, 2018, Ayer was set to executive produce the television series adaptation of Stephen King's poem The Bone Church, with Chris Long producing with Ayer.

Sons and Soldiers TV series
On October 19, 2018, Ayer was set to produce the television series adaptation of Bruce Anderson's World War 2 novel "Sons and Soldiers," with Ayer directing the pilot episode, Eric Tuchman writing the series and Entertainment One set to produce and distribute the series.

El-Alamein film
On August 8, 2019, Ayer was set to direct a movie about the Second Battle of El Alamein, with James Coyne writing the screenplay, Di Bonaventura Pictures' Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian producing with Thomas Augsberger and Lionsgate Films set to distribute, which was originally meant to start filming in early 2020.

The Dirty Dozen reboot
On December 16, 2019, Ayer was set to direct and write the contemporary reboot of The Dirty Dozen as a co-production with Simon Kinberg's Genre Films and Warner Bros. distributing the film, which was originally meant to start filming in early 2020.

Six Years film
On May 26, 2020, Ayer was set to direct, produce, and write a feature film adaptation of Harlan Coben's novel "Six Years", with Ayer producing with his Cedar Point partner Chris Long and Netflix set to distribute the film.

End of Watch TV series
On February 10, 2022, Ayer was set to executive produce and co-write a pilot for the television adaptation of Ayer's police film End of Watch for Fox.