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War Dogs

FILM · 2016 · USA

War Dogs

19 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026

  • War Dogs — production image

19 Interesting Facts About War Dogs

Interesting Facts (15)

  1. #001

    In the film, Efraim (Jonah Hill) grows angry at an employee who criticizes the letters written on behalf of AEY because he stands behind nothing. In real life, the initials mean something. The company was initially a front established by Efraim's father. The letters in its name are the initials of his children: Aaron, Avigail, Avrohom, Efraim and Yeshaya.

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  2. #002

    The operation that takes place in Albania was shot in Romania, and even the language of the workers in the warehouse was Romanian.

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  3. #003

    The film exaggerated how physically dangerous the situations the two young men were in abroad were. Although Packouz and Diveroli faced danger, they mostly did so from behind a computer screen.

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  4. #004

    The real David Packouz was asked to submit some of his favorite songs for the film's soundtrack. Some of these songs include Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion", Iggy Pop's "The Passenger", Wolfmother's "Dimension" and Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On", which his character listens to in the film. He also provided the Beastie Boys' "So What'cha Want?", which Efraim is said to have listened to daily.

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  5. #005

    A keen observer of the geopolitical scene would have known in advance that the deal had the potential to go badly, because Albania had been China's only friend for many years under communist rule. More than 80 percent of Albania's trade was conducted with China.

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  6. #006

    The Las Vegas gun convention that David and Efraim attend is based on two real-life firearms conventions. Shot Show is a gun convention held annually in Las Vegas. The tanks, missiles and equipment seen in the film are at IDEX in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

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  7. #007

    When David and Efraim learn that the Beretta shipment is stuck in Jordan, Efraim tries to placate Captain Santos by offering him a "Corvus TP19" shipment. Captain Santos mocks the weapon, saying it is "Brazilian and it's shit". "TP19" is probably a veiled reference to the Taurus PT92, a Brazilian-made copy of the Beretta 92 that is generally sold at lower prices.

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  8. #008

    Talks were ongoing for Jesse Eisenberg and Shia LaBeouf to take roles.

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  9. #009

    David Packouz is four years older than Efraim Diveroli. In reality, Jonah Hill is four years older than Miles Teller.

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  10. #010

    Ana de Armas's surname means "weapons" in Spanish.

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  11. #011

    The apartment David moves into after making a lot of money resembles Frank Lopez's home in Scarface (1983).

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  12. #012

    This is the second film in which Jonah Hill's character enjoys a productive lifestyle based on dubious business practices. The first was The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).

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  13. #013

    The film playing on the plane when David Packouz (Miles Teller) returns home from Albania is Young Frankenstein (1974).

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  14. #014

    The bearded man who fights over a girl in the club is Dan Bilzerian.

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  15. #015

    Todd Phillips had previously directed Bradley Cooper in The Hangover trilogy. Cooper and Phillips produced the film through their own production company, which was active from 2014 to 2021.

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Characters & Cast (1)

  1. #016

    At the time she took the role, Ana de Armas spoke very little English; she learned all her lines phonetically. The producers noticed when a line in the script changed that she did not know how to pronounce it correctly, or even how to hold a basic conversation. Her management immediately put her into English lessons. She later said that, because her life depended on it, she mastered the language very quickly.

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Easter Eggs & References (3)

  1. #017

    The beach sunset scene that Efraim hangs on the wall of his AEY office is another reference to Scarface (1983). Frank Lopez had the same scene painted on his office wall.

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  2. #018

    The poster design is a parody of Scarface (1983), which the main characters reference frequently throughout the film. Jonah Hill was born in the year Scarface (1983) was released.

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  3. #019

    War Dogs (2016) is one of two 2016 films that reference Scarface (1983); the other is The Infiltrator (2016).

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Related pages

Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • IMDb IMDb title page (trivia)

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