Jake Gyllenhaal to fight Islamic State in new drama (original) (raw)

Jake Gyllenhaal is re-teaming with Life director Daniel Espinosa in a drama about an American who joins the war in Syria.

The movie will be based on the Rolling Stone article The Anarchists vs The Islamic State, which tells the real-life story of a group of left-wing radicals who decide to travel to Syria.

Written by journalist Seth Harp, the investigation follows the story of Brace Belden, Lucas Chapman and Tommy Morck, three outcasts fighting alongside the Kurdish militia known as the YPG to defeat Islamic State in Syria.

Gyllenhaal's production company Ninestories, which the actor set up with friend Riva Marker in 2015, will be behind the movie which Espinosa is set to direct.

Image: Ryan Reynolds, Espinosa, and Gyllenhaal at the premiere of Life

"Thematically, we're often attracted to material about the search for identity, especially in a world where it's become easier to feel less and less connected," Marker said in a statement.

"Seth's story is about people who abandon everything that's familiar as a means to connect in the most brutal of circumstances."

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Gyllenhaal and Espinosa got along so well during the shooting of their upcoming sci-fi thriller Life that they decided to take on this project together.

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Life follows the story of three astronauts - Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson - who are faced with the presence of an alien organism inside their spaceship.

The movie has been received with mixed reviews, with most critics pointing out how it manages to entertain despite its unoriginal theme.