Shia LaBeouf & David Ayer to reunite for gritty crime thriller Tax Collector

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Before David Ayer returns to the world of orcs and elves for the sequel to Netflix's BRIGHT, he'll squeeze in a little indie film which will reunite him with his FURY star Shia LaBeouf. Deadline reports that Ayer has begun pre-production on TAX COLLECTOR, a gritty crime thriller which Ayer wrote and will direct. Production on TAX COLLECTOR is set to kick off this summer in Los Angeles with Shia LaBeouf and Bobby Soto (S.W.A.T.) set to star, but that's all we know about the film as plot details are being kept under wraps, but it's said that it will harken back to Ayer's earlier crime thrillers such as TRAINING DAY and END OF WATCH.

I suppose that means that we'll have to wait a little longer before BRIGHT 2 brings back Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, but it will be nice to see David Ayer tackle something smaller once again. BRIGHT took place in an alternate present-day Los Angeles inhabited by human, orcs, elves, and fairies and starred Will Smith as Ward and Joel Edgerton as Jakoby, a pair of LAPD cops who embarked on a routine patrol which would ultimately alter the future as their world knew it. Although the Netflix film was released to, shall we say, less than kind reviews, it obviously found quite a sizable audience on the streaming service, who immediately ordered a sequel. David Ayer will be back to helm the sequel with Evan Spiliotopoulos (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) signed on the pen the script. Although Max Landis wrote the initial spec script for the first time, sources has said that Landis and Ayer disagreed creatively, causing a split which necessitated another writer be brought in.

Joel Edgerton has previously spoken about what he hopes the sequel will bring, which could involve more exploration of the world, possibly even venturing outside of L.A. "The world is very interesting, and I think there’s a certain depth and detail to that world that’s really wonderful… I don’t know exactly where they’re going to take it. I got the sense from David that he might take it to a new setting, which I think would be cool to see. I personally was most curious of what was happening outside of Los Angeles, and obviously the world at large is populated by similar characters and how does that affect other cities? I think it’d be awesome to have a look at that. It’s interesting," Edgerton said. "Where do Daryl and Nick go now that they’ve had that experience. Is Jacoby now suddenly more accepted because he went through that experience, or is he going to go back to work on Monday and have people mistreat him?" As for Shia LaBeouf, he recently wrapped filming on HONEY BOY,  which he wrote and is based on LaBeouf's own relationship with his father.