Heart of the Beast is not based on a true story. The survival thriller, which stars Brad Pitt and opened in U.S. theaters on September 25, is an original screenplay by first-time feature writer Cameron Alexander, according to Paramount Pictures and multiple published reports.
The film follows James Belmont, a retired Special Forces officer, and his combat dog Odin after a plane crash leaves them stranded in the Alaskan wilderness. Pitt reunites with director David Ayer, who previously directed him in Fury (2014). The cast also includes J.K. Simmons and Anna Lambe.
Alexander wrote the script as a tribute to his own dog. He told UC Santa Barbara Magazine that he began writing after his dog died, saying, ‘In film writing, they say, Write what you know, so I just began to write down all the feelings I had about my dog, with no expectations about what I was putting down on paper.’
In a separate red-carpet interview, Alexander described the script as ‘a love letter to my dog’ written during a difficult period. He said, ‘I was incredibly lonely and I was really broke. I just wrote a love letter to my dog kind of out of frustration, and to provide some catharsis for myself.’
All characters in the film, including the dog, are fictional. There is no real-life account of a retired Special Forces veteran who survived a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness with his combat dog.
The dog Odin is played by a real German Shepherd named Uber, along with three of his offspring. Uber, a search-and-rescue dog, was chosen for the role, and the filmmakers used multiple dogs that look alike to portray the character.
Heart of the Beast has received strong reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 94% critic score based on 31 reviews, making it David Ayer’s best-reviewed film on the platform. The audience score stands at 96%. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 69 based on 17 critic reviews.
Variety critic Owen Gleiberman praised the performances, writing, ‘This is a terrific performance — and Brad Pitt is extremely good too.’ The Hollywood Reporter’s Frank Scheck described the film as a ‘love story’ between a man and his dog, crediting Pitt, the trainers, and the handlers for making the relationship convincing.
The Associated Press’s Lindsey Bahr offered a more mixed response, calling it an effectively thrilling adventure but noting that the story follows familiar survival-film beats. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw praised the connection between the man and dog but felt the film leaned heavily into ‘sentimentality’ and described it as ‘a bit cheesy.’
In its opening weekend, Heart of the Beast earned $20 million domestically and $30.1 million from 63 international markets for a $50.1 million worldwide start. The film had a reported budget of $82 million. Its opening Friday brought in $7.4 million.
The film continued to perform in its second weekend. As of early October, the worldwide gross reached approximately $57.5 million, with more than $27.3 million from North America and $30.1 million from international markets.
Heart of the Beast is currently playing in theaters. Paramount Pictures has not announced a streaming release date.