After his B-17 is shot down during a World War II mission over France, David Holden (James Maslow) must face Nazi enemies head-on and stop a devastating war plot. Wolf Hound is a high-flying action film with authentic vintage aircraft, great performances turned in by the cast, and is inspired by the true events of a German special operations unit that would shoot down aircraft and use them as Trojan horses.
Alongside Maslow in the cast are Trevor Donovan and John Turk. Michael B. Chait directed the film, which is co-written by him and Timothy Ritchey. It’s set to release in Select Theaters, On-Demand, and Digital on June 3, 2022, before a Blu-ray and DVD release on July 12.
Ahead of its release, Maslow and Chait joined Movieweb to chat about the making and importance of the film.
Wolf Hound Trailer
“That’s one of the biggest reasons why I was so attracted to this project,” said Maslow, reflecting on how his grandfather flew B-17s in WWII. “And then gigantic moments of serendipity, probably one of the biggest in my career. The day I got the offer would have been my grandfather’s birthday. So, it just felt like this is coming to me for a reason, and I knew I had to do it… It carried quite a weight throughout my preparation and throughout filming. Not only do I want to respect our armed forces, everybody who was given and continues to give their service for our freedom and our country, but specifically my own grandfather… People are just about to start watching the movie, and I hope they see how much detail and love and dedication we gave to making this truly as authentic and respectful as possible.”
Authenticity is right, especially when considering the aircraft featured in the film.
“I went to the museums and said, ‘May I please do some insane things with your aircraft for this movie,’” joked Chait. “I was directing a commercial… [and] stepped onboard a B17 for the first time, and a wall of emotion hit me… I immediately thought, ‘there’s a movie here.’ I wanted the plane to be a focal point or character in the movie. Through my relationship with that museum and then getting in touch with the military aviation museum, we were able to do something you’ve hardly ever seen… Almost no other movies have used all read airplanes in dogfight battle scenes.”
As for what it was like filming the scenes in the air, Maslow provided a two-part answer. “The first part is just as fun as you would imagine. It’s insane getting to be up and flown around, and I would go on joyrides, I was hiding in the back when they were filming scenes I wasn’t even a part of because I wanted the cool opportunity… they’re like, ‘Alright, we’re going to start dogfighting,’ and then getting to experience the barrel rolls and backflips and all this craziness was just ridiculously fun. For about 20 minutes. Here’s part two of that answer. It’s very easy to get sick and nauseous, and very difficult to get unsick… Once you get sick, I basically told the captain to take their airplane down and as quick as you could, get me out, and I’d go curl up in the fetal position for about a half-hour [jokingly] and then we'd go again.”
“He did all his own stunts in this movie, and that is very rare. I think for any actor, especially the leading man. Every jump, every fireball right behind him, everything in the planes, that is all real. That’s all him, so my hat is off to him for that,” added Chait.
Working With Trevor Donovan and John Turk
Donovan plays a Nazi soldier in the film who stalks Maslow’s every move. “Trevor came in as kind of a last-minute replacement, and it was an absolute blessing because he just killed the role. He only had a few days of preparation, and he showed up 100% ready to go. He made doing my job a lot easier,” said Maslow. Chait also commented on his performance, “Trevor, I mean, he was a dream to work with… He was hungry, he was passionate, and with a three-day notice he had learned a German accent.”
They also had great things to say about Turk’s performance. “John gave one of the scariest and most awesome performances I’ve seen on camera in a long time,” said Maslow.
“In the interrogation scene, he was so frightening that the focus puller forgot to keep focusing the camera, and he goes out of focus for just a second. And I asked, ‘What happened?’ and the guy was like, ‘I was so into the scene, I’d forgot to pull focus.’ It was the biggest compliment ever for him,” said Chait. “To be clear, the focus puller was fired on the spot,” added Maslow, jokingly.
Maslow and Chait ended by echoing one another in their wishes for viewers to gain a deeper appreciation for the history but at the same time, to have a good time watching it.
