What Is David Ayer's Net Worth?
David Ayer is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter who has a net worth of $10 million. David Ayer wrote the screenplays for the films "U-571" (2000), "Training Day" (2001), "The Fast and the Furious" (2001), "Dark Blue" (2002), and "S.W.A.T." (2003), and he wrote and directed "Suicide Squad" (2016). Ayer wrote, directed, and produced the films "Harsh Times" (2005), "End of Watch" (2012), "Sabotage" (2014), "Fury" (2014), and "The Tax Collector" (2020), and he directed and produced "Bright" (2017) and directed "Street Kings" (2008). David had cameos in "Training Day," "Street Kings," and "Suicide Squad." He also executive produced the 2020 Fox series "Deputy" and directed the episodes "Graduation Day" and "10-8 Outlaws." To date, Ayer's movies have grossed more than $1 billion at the box office.
Early Life
David Ayer was born on January 18, 1968, in Champaign, Illinois. His family later lived in Bloomington, Minnesota, and Bethesda, Maryland, and when David was a teenager, his parents kicked him out of the house. He then relocated to Los Angeles, California, where he moved in with his cousin. Ayer's experiences as a teen in South Central Los Angeles inspired several of his movies. David left high school before earning his diploma and made a living painting houses. He then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving as a submarine sonar technician on the Permit-class (nuclear-powered) submarine the USS Haddo. This experience inspired him to write the screenplay for the 2000 film "U-571."
Career
"U-571" starred Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, and Jon Bon Jovi and grossed $127 million at the box office. Ayer wrote the screenplay for the 2001 Denzel Washington–Ethan Hawke crime thriller "Training Day," which brought in $104.9 million at the box office and earned Washington an Academy Award (Hawke was nominated as well).
He co-wrote the screenplay for 2001's "The Fast and the Furious" with Gary Scott Thompson and Erik Bergquist, and the film grossed $207.3 million. "The Fast and the Furious" has become a hit franchise that has earned more than $7 billion, and its tenth installment was released in 2023. David's next two screenplays to be made into films were "Dark Blue" (2002) and "S.W.A.T." (2003), and "S.W.A.T." grossed $207.2 million at the box office. Ayer made his directorial debut with 2005's "Harsh Times," which he also wrote and produced, then he directed Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Common, and The Game in 2008's "Street Kings."
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Next, David wrote, produced, and directed 2012's "End of Watch" and 2014's "Sabotage" and "Fury." "End of Watch" earned him nominations at the London Film Festival and Zurich Film Festival. "Fury" brought in $211.8 million at the box office, and it was named to the National Board of Review's list of the year's 10 best films. "Fury," which starred Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, and Michael Peña, also earned a Critics' Choice Award nomination for Best Action Movie. Ayer's next film was 2016's "Suicide Squad," which he wrote and directed.
With a gross of $747 million at the box office, "Suicide Squad" has been David's most commercially successful film, but during a 2023 appearance on Jon Bernthal's "Real Ones" podcast, Ayer stated:
"Come right off 'Fury,' right? I had the town in my hand — could've done anything, and I did do anything. And [I] go on this journey with ['Suicide Squad']. And the same thing — authentic, truthful, let's do all the rehearsal, let's really get in each other's souls. Let's create this amazing, collaborative thing, right? And then 'Deadpool' opened, right? And they never tested 'Batman v. Superman,' so they were expecting a different result, and then they got hammered by all the critics. Then it's like, 'Okay, we're going to turn David Ayer's dark, soulful movie into a f***ing comedy now.'"
David added, "All I know is my unseen film plays much better than the studio release." Due to the changes made to the film, fans began a #ReleaseTheAyerCut campaign on social media.
After "Suicide Squad," David directed and produced the 2017 urban fantasy "Bright," and the following year, he formed Cedar Park Entertainment with Chris Long, who was formerly the Audience Network's head of programming. Cedar Park Entertainment's first project was the 2020 action thriller "The Tax Collector," which Ayer wrote, directed, and produced. In mid-2018, Cedar Park Entertainment entered into a first look deal with the Canadian company Entertainment One to create scripted and unscripted content. In 2020, David executive produced the "Suicide Squad" spin-off/sequel "Birds of Prey," and in May 2022, it was announced that he would be directing the Jason Statham action movie "The Beekeeper."
Fast & Furious Franchise Earnings
While on Jon Bernthal's "Real Ones" podcast, David revealed that he does not own a piece of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, despite the fact that he co-wrote the first film.
"Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don't have any of it… I got nothing to show for it, nothing, because of the way the business works."
Personal Life
David married his wife, Mireya, in September 2002, and they welcomed four children together, Jason, Cynthia, Emily, and Robert. Ayer filed for divorce in July 2017 and asked for joint custody of the children. In April 2018, it was reported that David and Mireya were engaged in a custody battle, and Ayer stated in court documents, "Immediately after I moved out, Mireya blocked my access to the kids and refused to communicate with me. She would not answer the phone if I called….I did not get the children for an overnight visit until October 29, 2017."
Award Nominations
In 2012, "End of Watch" earned Ayer a Best Film nomination at the London Film Festival and a Best International Feature Film nomination at the Zurich Film Festival. In 2015, he was nominated for the Georgia Film Critics Association's Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema for "Sabotage."
