Brad Pitt stars in Heart of the Beast as James Belmont, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer who survives a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness alongside his combat dog, Odin. The survival thriller, directed by David Ayer and written by Cameron Alexander, opened in U.S. theaters on September 25, 2026, from Paramount Pictures.
The film’s cast is anchored by Pitt, who also produced the film through his Plan B Entertainment banner. J.K. Simmons plays Watkins, a talkative former gold miner who shares a brief campfire encounter with James and Odin. Anna Lambe plays Amber, a young Inuk woman who appears at the beginning and end of the film.
The role of Odin is shared by four German Shepherds. A six-year-old former police dog and search-and-rescue dog named Uber plays the primary Odin, with three of his sons — littermates Ryker and Zika, plus younger half-brother Hondo — serving as stunt and secondary doubles. Animal coordinator Andrew Simpson discovered Uber at Heisenberg Kennels in New Zealand after a nationwide search.
Pitt said at a press conference ahead of the film’s premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival, ‘I did have a really moving experience with Uber. We tried to make every day a play day for him. There were times he would do things that were just amazing that were not in the script that you see in the film, and his expressions still really move me.’
Simpson told GQ, ‘He just had that maturity about him. He had a softness about him, too.’ The trainer noted that Uber’s offspring were the closest canine matches he had ever worked with in any film. ‘But these dogs had such similar faces, they were the closest matches we’ve ever had in any movie,’ Simpson said.
J.K. Simmons joined the cast in February 2025, reuniting with Ayer after the 2005 crime drama Harsh Times and with Pitt after The Mexican (2001) and Burn After Reading (2008). Simmons said he was drawn to the emotional depth of the story, describing it as having ‘a deep, deep heart.’
Anna Lambe, an Inuk actress from Iqaluit, Nunavut, joined the cast in March 2025. Lambe is known for her roles in True Detective: Night Country, North of North, and The Grizzlies. She told Yahoo Canada about being cast, ‘It’s pretty surreal. It’s really, really cool. Every new project just feels so exciting. But I mean, the caliber and the size of Heart of the Beast is just, I feel very honoured to have the trust of the team to hop in and do my thing.’
David Ayer directed the film from a screenplay by Cameron Alexander. Producers include Olivia Hamilton, David Ayer, Marty Bowen, and Brad Pitt. Damien Chazelle serves as an executive producer. The film reunites Pitt and Ayer for the first time since Fury (2014).
Principal photography took place in New Zealand between March and May 2025, with locations including Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, Glenorchy, Mt Aspiring National Park, and Milford Sound. The South Island locations doubled for the Alaskan wilderness. The film runs 101 minutes and is rated PG-13.
Heart of the Beast earned $20 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend from 3,435 theaters, finishing third behind Avengers: Endgame Encore and Primetime. It added $30.1 million from 63 international markets for a $50.1 million worldwide start. The film carried a reported production budget of $82 million.
Critics gave the film an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes from more than 140 reviews. Metacritic reported a score of 69 out of 100, indicating generally favorable reviews. Audiences awarded the film an A- CinemaScore, and its Rotten Tomatoes audience score stood at 93% from over 1,000 verified ratings.
The Hollywood Reporter’s review called the film ‘a love story, and one of the most moving to come along in a long time,’ adding that ‘Pitt displays an engagement with his co-star that may be his most resonant yet.’ Variety’s review said it was ‘in spirit not far removed from an old Disney movie’ and that ‘Pitt gives a true performance, and so does the canine actor playing his trusty companion.’
The film continues its theatrical run and is expected to arrive on Paramount+ later in 2026, following Paramount’s standard 45-day theatrical window before digital release. An official streaming date has not been announced.