Michael Bay, Jake Gyllenhaal Teaming for Thriller 'Ambulance'

[HARDY]

Dylan O’Brien and Eiza Gonzalez are circling roles.

Michael Bay is speeding along with his next project. The filmmaker will direct Ambulance, a contained thriller that has Jake Gyllenhaal in talks to star.

The project is described as a three-hander that tells of two brothers who steal an ambulance that is already in a heightened state with a female paramedic and a patient who is in critical condition. Gyllenhaal would play the older brother. Sources say that Dylan O’Brien is circling the part of the younger brother and that Eiza González is circling the role of the paramedic. Sources caution, however, that no deals have been made.

Chris Fedak, known as co-creator of Fox's Prodigal Son, penned the script, which is described as having elements of action-thrillers such as Speed and Training Day. Bay envisions the film as a character-driven project that will be a departure from his standard explosion-heavy fare. Endeavor Content is packaging Ambulance, and Universal is in final talks to act as distributor. The project would be a negative pick-up, meaning the studio will be mostly hands off and will acquire it fully made.

Bay last directed Netflix's 6 Underground and was weighing Ambulance and directing a big-budget video game adaptation at Sony, but the contained thriller won out, as it lends itself more to a COVID-friendly shoot. Ambulance is eying a shoot in Los Angeles, where the Bay-produced thriller Songbird shot in the era of COVID-19.

Gyllenhaal starred in last year's Spider-Man: Far From Home and recently signed on to play former Paramout chief Robert Evans in Francis and The Godfather, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Godfather.