Film by Todd Phillips
War Dogs is a 2016 American black comedy crime film directed by Todd Phillips, and written by Phillips, Jason Smilovic and Stephen Chin, based on the 2011 Rolling Stone article "Arms and the Dudes" by Guy Lawson (which was later expanded into a novel, also titled Arms and the Dudes). It stars Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Ana de Armas, and Bradley Cooper, who also produced. The film follows two arms dealers, Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, who receive a U.S. Army contract to supply ammunitions for the Afghan National Army worth approximately $300 million.
The film, which features an unreliable narrator and is labeled as being "based on a true story", is heavily fictionalized and dramatized, with some of its events, such as the duo driving through Iraq, either invented or based on other events, such as Chin's own experiences. Additionally, Diveroli claimed, but later dismissed, the film was falsely marketed as a true story, and stole material from his 2016 memoir Once a Gun Runner.
Filming began on March 2, 2015, in Romania. The film premiered in New York City on August 3, 2016, and was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 19, 2016. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $86 million worldwide. Hill received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.