In 2012, Rex developed facial palsy, which ended his bomb-sniffing duties. Leavey was able to adopt him through the intervention of Senator Chuck Schumer, around April 2012. Rex died on December 22, 2012.[4]
The real Megan Leavey is credited in the role of Female Drill Instructor #3, while Rex is portrayed by Varco, in an uncredited role.
Production
On August 7, 2015, it was announced that Gabriela Cowperthwaite would be directing a film about Megan Leavey, to be portrayed by actress Kate Mara, and her military combat dog Rex.[5] The script was written by Pamela Gray, with the help of Annie Mumolo, Tim Lovestedt, and Jordan Roberts. LD Entertainment would produce the film.[5]
In January 2017, Bleecker Street acquired distribution rights to the film and set it for release on June 9, 2017.[8]
Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 5, 2017, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.[9][10] In the UK and Australia the film was released on DVD as Rex.[citation needed]
Reception
Box office
Megan Leavey was released alongside It Comes at Night and The Mummy and was expected to gross around $3 million from 1,956 theaters in its opening weekend.[11] It ended up grossing $3.8 million, finishing 8th at the box office.[12]
Critical response
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Megan Leavey honors its real-life subjects with a sensitive, uplifting drama whose honest emotion more than makes up for its mild approach to the story."[13]OnMetacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has average score 66 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[12]
Awards
Megan Leavey was among the 2017 films which were honored with the Truly Moving Picture Award at the Heartland Film Festival.