“He Was the Only Guy I Called”: How Dave Bautista’s Intense New Action Movie Was Saved From Disaster [Exclusive]

“First of all, I have to say Michael wasn’t set to direct this film. We lost our director, like, weeks before. We had been trying to make this film for years, but the reason we couldn’t do it is that my schedule had just gotten so tight. But we found a very small window where we could make the film, and an even smaller window where I could actually be in the film. We had to condense my shooting days by weeks, like two and a half weeks.

So losing our director was like —it was a knife in the heart. We were all just in a really bad spot. I called Mike and said, “I’m in a bad spot, man, and we need a good director.” And he jumped all over it —didn’t hesitate; he took it, hit the ground running, and came. He was a boss, man. I knew that about him, which is why I called him.”

Bautista has had the experience of working with a director who constantly pulls in actors he knows he can rely on in James Gunn, but it is clear that this was a cast of Bautista knowing which director would not let him down.

“He was the first guy I called; he was the only guy I called. And thank God he did. He came, he took over, and it’s typically that’s not the type of film he makes. But through collaboration, because we already had a good working relationship, it just worked. He made it work, and again, he’s just Mike, if you know, if anybody who’s ever worked with him, they know Mike. Mike is a boss.

He has an answer for everything. You got a question, he’s got an answer, and you need somebody, especially when you’re in a crunch, you need somebody like that. So, Mike —I loved him before this —but man, he saved us. I’m going to say this. Anybody I talked to about this film, I will tell them that Michael Dowse saved us. You know, we were able to make this film, and I’m very proud of it.”

Can ‘Trap House’ Be a November Hit?

Although Dave Bautista has had some big franchise hits with movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and Dune, his last strong non-franchise box office performance was 2023’s Knock at the Cabin, the M. Night Shyamalan thriller that took $54 million worldwide. 2024’s The Killer’s Game took $5.8 million, while In the Lost Lands, a fantasy movie based on a George R. R. Martin story, took only $3.6 million. Just a couple of months ago, Bautista led the dystopian graphic novel adaptation, Afterburn, which barely managed to break $1 million.

Trap House was acquired for distribution by Aura Entertainment as their first ever release. Action movies are one of the most popular viewer choices on streaming platforms, but don’t always perform well in cinemas. That could mean Trap House’s box office totals don’t blow anyone away, but you can guarantee that the film will be challenging for the top spot when it later comes home on streaming.

Release Date

November 14, 2025

Director

Michael Dowse

Writers

Gary Scott Thompson

Producers

Michael A. Pruss, Marc Goldberg, Sarah Gabriel, Dave Bautista, Rebecca Feuer, Todd Lundbohm