Warner Bros. has blown the lid off the first trailer for wartime comedy War Dogs, shipping Miles Teller and Jonah Hill’s ignorant lowlifes to the frontlines all in the search of a quick buck.
Formerly titled Arms and the Dudes, Todd Phillips (The Hangover trilogy) is the director at the helm here, telling the true story of two friends who decide to cheat the system by exploiting a governmental loophole, opening up the chance to place wagers on military contracts from home soil.
What starts as a curious business venture leads to Hill and Teller falling in over their heads, landing a deal in the region of $300 million and a one-way ticket to the Middle East. From the fish-out-of-water dynamic to the brash and frankly annoying central characters, today’s first peek at War Dogs has more in common with The Hangover trilogy than its director alone, though we’ll reserve final judgement until the movie debuts in a few months’ time.
Also starring Ana de Armas (Knock Knock) as love interest to Miles Teller’s bumbling twentysomething and American Sniper‘s Bradley Cooper, the action-comedy formerly known as Arms and the Dudes will feature a screenplay by Stephen Chin and Todd Phillips & Jason Smilovic.
Warner Bros. Pictures has slated War Dogs for a theatrical release on August 19.
Based on a true story, War Dogs follows two friends in their early 20’s (Hill and Teller) living in Miami during the Iraq War who exploit a little-known government initiative that allows small 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 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.