Deadline has learned exclusively that Dave Bautista will play the lead role in the forthcoming action-thriller film Cooler, directed by Drew Pearce. Filming is scheduled to begin in 2023. This movie marks the beginning of a partnership between Bautista’s Dogbone Entertainment and Infrared, a division of FilmNation Entertainment that specialises in producing independent films. In the movie, Bautista plays Ray Sagona, a bouncer from South Beach who tries to make amends with his family.
After being blackmailed by his boss to recover stolen drugs from the club where he works, however, his life takes a dramatic turn that puts his redemption to the ultimate test as he embarks on a perilous trek across Miami. The cooler has a promising idea, and with Bautista signed to play the lead, it should be a treat for genre moviegoers when it finally arrives in theatres. In Hotel Artemis, Pearce’s first film as a filmmaker, Bautista played Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, and Sofia Boutella. Pearce will not only be directing the film, but also producing it under the Point of No Return banner alongside Point of No Return partners Drake, Future the Prince, and Jonathan Meisner.
Drew Simon and Sam Speiser of Infrared will produce the film alongside Ian Fisher and Toby Harvard of Infrared Films. Regarding Bautista and the forthcoming film, Pearce said:
The opportunity to create an iconic character with him and to produce the type of long-dark-night-of-the-soul thriller that I’ve always loved is too wonderful to be true. “Dave is one of the most soulful and gifted colleagues I’ve been blessed enough to work with. How lucky we are to have Drake’s and Future The Prince’s tremendous cultural expertise to lead the way as we explore Miami. We couldn’t have asked for a better collaborator than Infrared; their vision for the film is a wonderful match for our own.
In addition to Cooler, which is still in production, Bautista will soon be seen in the upcoming sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. The next year, on February 3, 2023, the actor will make his horror film debut in Knock at the Cabin, a film directed by M. Night Shyamalan. In addition to the upcoming Disney+ Christmas special, he will be seen again in his legendary role as Drax the Destroyer in the upcoming summer 2019 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Additionally, on November 17, 2023, the public will be able to see him in Dune: Part Two when he reprises the role of Glossu Rabban. The cooler has not yet been scheduled for a release date because production is still ongoing.