Shia LeBeouf And Jai Courtney Get Post-Apocalyptic In This Grim Man Down Photo
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Post-apocalyptic stories are everywhere, on our TVs, in our teen-centric science fiction, and definitely in our movie theaters. That probably says something about our collective state of mind (the last time the genre was even close to this ubiquitous the Cold War was in full effect and we all thought we were going to get nuked), but I’m not going to argue with a slew of new films about our wrecked future, especially if we get some as good as the likes of Snowpiercer and The Rover. Man Down is looking to get in on this act, and we’ve got the first grim picture for you check out.
There’s not a lot of context for this image, but you get the point they’re trying to make, it’s fairly obvious and straight forward. It shows stars Shia LeBeouf and Jai Courtney, looking suitably grizzled and post-apocalyptic, pointing their guns at what may be Clifton Collins Jr., it’s hard to tell exactly who that is under his crazy beard and long hair.
Man Down takes place in a brutal, feral, post-apocalyptic America—you probably figured most of that out, though there is no word at the moment about why civilization collapsed in this particular iteration. The story revolves around Gabriel Drummer (LaBeouf), a former Marine who is on a quest to find his son, Jonathan, and his wife, Natalie (Kate Mara). His BFF Devin Robert (Courtney), also a Marine, and a trigger happy one, accompanies Gabriel on his journey, and when the two come across Charles (Collins), he may have information about the family’s whereabouts. Along their way, they get more than they bargained for as they unravel the mystery of Gabriel’s past.
That may not be the most original plot ever devised, but there’s definitely potential here if they handle it right. And with his newfound penchant for method acting, LeBeouf is probably living in a lean-to made out of trash he scavenged, foraging for food like an apocalyptic survivor. So there’s that.
Dito Montiel is taking the helm, which is a hit and miss proposition. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints isn’t bad, and I have a soft spot for Fighting, but The Son of No One isn’t particularly good (except for Channing Tatum’s prepubescent mustache, that’s amazing). It’s hard to get a read from his involvement, and the same goes for writer Adam Simon. The only other writing credit on his resume is the currently in production sci-fi joint Synapse, so we don’t have much to go on in that regard either. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what we’ll see.
There’s no timetable for when we might set eyes on Man Down. It’s currently filming in Louisiana, and the Solution Entertainment Group is in the process of trying to sell the distribution rights at the American Film Market.
