Movies: MILES TELLER STEPS INTO A DANGEROUS WORLD IN “WAR DOGS

Miles Teller (“Whiplash,” the “Divergent” trilogy) stars as a twentysomething who became a multi-millionaire as an international arms dealer in Warner Bros. Pictures' new comedic drama based on true events “War Dogs” (in Philippine cinemas Aug. 24).

Directed by “The Hangover” trilogy's Todd Phillips, “War Dogs” follows two friends in their early 20s (Jonah Hill and Teller) living in Miami Beach during the Iraq War who exploit a little-known government initiative that allows smaller businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts. Starting small, they begin raking in big money and are living the high life. But the pair gets in over their heads when they land a 300 million dollar deal to arm the Afghan military—a deal that puts them in business with some very shady people, not the least of which turns out to be the U.S. Government.

“It’s a cool story,” says Teller who plays the real-life character, David Packouz. “You have to respect what they were able to do; at one point, they had a $300 million deal going. That’s an insane amount of money for a couple of guys in their early 20s who were just fakin’ it till they made it. It’s fascinating how things can kind of snowball and you can get in way over your head.”

The allure of financial freedom isn’t lost on David, but for somewhat less hedonistic reasons than his partner-in-crime Efraim, played by Jonah Hill. Miles Teller explains, “He is struggling to make ends meet when Efraim shows up. Efraim was his buddy when they were kids and they would get into trouble together. When he comes back into his life, David gets reenergized and excited by the opportunity to make some real money because he has a pregnant girlfriend and is wondering how he is going to provide for his family.”

The real David Packouz admits, “I won’t lie, it was pretty awesome for a while. We would go to parties and people would introduce themselves: ‘I’m a stockbroker or I’m in real estate… So what do you do?’ ‘We’re international arms dealers.’ The initial reaction went from ‘You’re kidding, right?’ to ‘You’re full of s**t,’ but once they realized we were not joking, they were blown away. One reason the story is so crazy is that very few people make it big in the arms business, especially at our age. The fact that we won a contract to supply the entire Afghan army was totally bizarre.”

Phillips reveals that they decided early on to tell the story from Packouz’s perspective, noting, “We realized the best way into this story was through David’s eyes. David represents the everyman stepping into this world he knew nothing about, much like the audience.”

The director, who had first met Teller when he produced the comedy “Project X,” says, “I think Miles is a world-class actor. It’s almost as if he doesn’t have to try. I don’t mean that in a negative way; he’s just naturally gifted. It’s amazing to watch. We were lucky to have both him and Jonah in the movie.”

“War Dogs” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Movies: JONAH HILL RISKS IT ALL FOR MONEY IN “WAR DOGS”

He's a two-time Academy Award nominee whose acting prowess has put him at the forefront of Hollywood, in both the comedic and dramatic realms. Now, Jonah Hill stars in the central role of young arms dealer Efraim Diveroli in Warner Bros. Pictures' new comedic drama “War Dogs” (in Philippine cinemas Aug. 24).

Hill says he was intrigued by his character who jumped at the opportunity to reap huge rewards without giving much thought to what he was sowing. Hill remarks, “There’s definitely something enticing about watching people make it rich without following the rules. It’s why I’ve always loved gangster movies…movies where the guys with swagger win. Until they don’t,” he smiles.

Based on a true story, “War Dogs” follows two friends in their early 20s living in Miami Beach during the Iraq War who exploit a little-known government initiative that allows small businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts. Starting small, Efraim (Hill) and David (Miles Teller) begin raking in big money and are living the high life. But the pair gets in over their heads when they land a 300 million dollar deal to arm the Afghan Military—a deal that puts them in business with some very shady people, not the least of which turns out to be the U.S. Government.

When we meet Efraim and David in “War Dogs,” they don’t appear to be the international arms dealer types. Two middle-class, early-twenty-something guys in Miami Beach, they had been best friends in junior high, but lost touch, as people do. Reunited at the funeral of a mutual friend, they reconnect and start to catch up. David has been eking out a living as a masseuse, but he thinks he has hit on a big idea—selling high-end bed sheets to Miami’s myriad of old folks homes. Efraim is also in sales, but that’s where the similarity ends.

While David has an apartment filled with boxes of unsold sheets and unpaid bills, Efraim has a bank account in the seven figures thanks to FedBizOpps, the government’s marketplace for an infinite variety of military supplies. When Efraim invites David to go into business with him, the answer is obvious.

“Efraim is a great character,” notes Hill. “He gets to be the guy who says, ‘Let’s go down the rabbit hole,’ and he’s so extreme and explosive, I just knew the role was right for me. He wants to be rich and loves the flashy, more surface things in life. That’s what he thinks will bring him happiness. He’s a wheeler-dealer who’s incredibly charming when he needs to be. But there is nothing lazy about him. He has to have enormous drive and intelligence and cunning to maneuver through this world. It made him really interesting to play.”

Director Todd Phillips (“The Hangover” trilogy) says that the role showcased Hill’s great versatility because “Efraim becomes whoever he needs to be in a given situation. He is a chameleon who is able to kind of blend into the person he thinks you want to him to be. It was a really fun aspect of the character for Jonah to play.”

“War Dogs” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Movies: BRADLEY COOPER REUNITES WITH “HANGOVER” DIRECTOR FOR “WAR DOGS”

Four-time Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper stars in and works as producer of Warner Bros. Pictures' new comedic drama “War Dogs” from director Todd Phillips (“The Hangover” trilogy).

Opening on August 24 in the Philippines, “War Dogs” marks the first film Cooper and Phillips produced together under their production company, Joint Effort, which was formed in 2014.

Based on a true story, “War Dogs” follows two friends in their early 20s living in Miami Beach during the Iraq War who exploit a little-known government initiative that allows small businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts. Starting small, Efraim (Jonah Hill) and David (Miles Teller) begin raking in big money and are living the high life. But the pair gets in over their heads when they land a 300 million dollar deal to arm the Afghan Military—a deal that puts them in business with some very shady people, not the least of which turns out to be the U.S. Government.

Despite their success, Efraim and David are still relatively small fish in the international arms dealer pond, where one of the biggest fish is a man named Henry Girard. Bradley Cooper, who plays the role, says, “Henry is definitely not somebody you would ever want to cross in any way, shape or form. Don’t let his poor eyesight or the thick prescription glasses fool you; they are no indication of how dangerous he can be. He has been banned from doing work with the U.S. military because he’s on a terrorist watch list, but Henry still has access to a tremendous amount of ammunition that Efraim and David need to solidify a deal worth $300 million, so they get hung up with him.”

Phillips notes, “Henry is that guy who’s been on both sides of every conflict. He doesn’t have a political standing; he just likes when people fight because it’s great for business and the character of Efraim loves that attitude. So when they finally meet him at an arms convention in Las Vegas, it’s a big moment for Efraim to sit across from his hero.”

Phillips goes on to reveal, “Henry is an amalgamation of different people. These guys start crossing the wrong kind of people in an attempt to fulfill this deal and then make it a little more profitable, and it becomes dangerous for them. But we had to simplify it, as you do in making movies, so it’s represented in this made-up character.”

Cooper adds, “One thing the movie shows is how susceptible someone can be when everything is put in front of him on a silver platter and how people deal with excess differently.”

Cooper, who shared in Phillips’ brand of camaraderie as part of the infamous Wolfpack, observes, “‘War Dogs’ feels very much like a natural progression in Todd’s evolution as a filmmaker because you have male characters that don’t feel so far away from his wheelhouse, yet there’s an edginess that takes it to the next level. The great thing about Todd is he’s always had his finger on the pulse of what’s cool. He can take a story with a dark texture and give it a patina that makes it humorous and exciting.”

Cooper feels the film's subject matter of greed and the American Dream is ripe for discussion. “Our goal was to tell a compelling story in an entertaining way, but you never know the kind of conversations it might spark. It’s a movie people could be talking about and debating long after they leave the theatre because the story has so many layers and is still very much in step with the times in which we live. I think people will find it especially interesting that the program that started it all is still very much in effect.”

“War Dogs” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Movies: AVERAGE DUDES TAKE ON THE U.S. ARMY IN “WAR DOGS”

It might have been one of the biggest hustles ever…and it could only happen in America.

Warner Bros. Pictures' new comedic drama “War Dogs” grew out of the story of two stoner kids, barely into their 20s, who became multi-millionaires as the most improbable of international arms dealers. But just as they reached what should have been the pinnacle of success, it all came crashing down in spectacular fashion.

One of the unifying themes of filmmaker Todd Phillips’ movies is people making bad decisions. Whether it’s a few post-college guys starting their own frat house or four friends planning an ill-fated bachelor party in Vegas, there are always repercussions that are outrageous and completely unexpected. Bad decisions are again at the center of “War Dogs,” but there is an edge to the humor, born of the fact that the film is based on a true story of a couple of guys who managed to turn a little-known government initiative on its ear…to the tune of $300 million dollars.

Phillips offers, “I always think movies have a little more gravity to them when you can take real events and build on them. It’s a movie about the rise and fall of two young guys, chasing their image of the ‘American dream,’ who got a little too greedy. And, you know, a little bit of greed gets in the way of good decision making.”

It all started during the George W. Bush administration when huge no-bid contracts to supply the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were being awarded to conglomerates like Halliburton, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. As criticism of the perceived cronyism and war-profiteering grew, the government decided to level the playing field with FedBizOpps (short for Federal Business Operations), which opened the bidding on military contracts to…well…virtually anyone. Unfortunately, there were just enough loopholes to make it possible to take advantage of the system.

The tale was chronicled in a 2011 Rolling Stone article called “Arms and the Dudes,” by Guy Lawson. “The Bush administration was trying to favor small businesses,” Lawson expands, “and no business was smaller than these dudes, sitting in a studio apartment in Miami Beach with nothing but a bong on the table, a laptop and a cell phone.”

Producer Mark Gordon recounts, “I was on a plane when I first read the story in Rolling Stone, and I couldn’t believe it was true. Everything about it cried out to be made into a movie. I’ve always found that audiences love films about characters who beat the system, even if they ultimately get their comeuppance, one way or another. Add in the fact that these two seemed the most unlikely people to pull off this kind of hustle, and you have something really special.”

Gordon adds that Phillips was the perfect director to bring the tale to the big screen. He states, “There is no one better than Todd to tell a story about outrageous characters getting into all kinds of trouble. He’s the master.”

“War Dogs” also marks the first film on which Phillips and Bradley Cooper (who also stars in the film) teamed as producers under the banner of their new production entity, Joint Effort. Cooper relates, “I was very interested to see how Todd was going to take the article and realize it cinematically. I loved the idea of a film about what these guys did, knowing it would be spawned from Todd’s brain.”

The tale's driving force was always money. Phillips confirms, “It’s very clear in the movie: they are not necessarily pro-war. It’s not about who’s fighting or why they’re fighting, it’s about how much product can they move. So war is really just an opportunity for them. And that’s a true thing. War is an economy. There is an underbelly to it where a lot of people make a lot of money and these two guys are just trying to get in on that.”

Opening across the Philippines on August 24, “War Dogs” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.