Dave Bautista To Play Lead In Drew Pearce’s Cooler

Deadline reports that Dave Bautista is set to star in the upcoming action thriller Cooler, written and directed by Drew Pearce of Hobbs & Shaw and Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation fame. Production will likely begin next summer 2023, and will be the first production to arise from a first-look deal between FilmNation Entertainment’s Infrared label and Bautista’s Dogbone Entertainment.

The film’s main character is Ray Sagona, a South Beach bouncer portrayed by Bautista, who is set to gain redemption and win his family back — but when a safe full of drugs is taken from the club that employs him, Ray is forced to go in pursuit of it before the narcotics branch of the Miami PD is set to retrieve it. As Ray’s past and present collide in an increasingly perilous manner, he will have to survive a harrowing 36-hour journey thru Miami Beach to retrieve the stolen goods… one epic final job to complete his journey of absolution.

“Dave is one of the most soulful and talented collaborators I’ve been lucky enough to work with — the chance to build an iconic character with him and make the kind of long-dark-night-of-the-soul thriller that I’ve always loved, is too good to be true,” director Pearce told Deadline. “The fact that we get to do it all in Miami, guided by the epic cultural knowledge of Drake and Future The Prince, is frankly a mindblower. And there’s nobody more perfect to be our partner than Infrared, whose creative ambitions aligned perfectly with what we want this movie to be.”