Pain & Gain is a 2013 American film directed by Michael Bay and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. The film is based on a true story, published in a 1999 series of Miami New Times articles written by Pete Collins and compiled in Collins' 2013 book Pain & Gain – This Is a True Story, detailing the brutal kidnapping, extortion, torture, and murder of several victims by an organized group of criminals that included a number of bodybuilders affiliated with Sun Gym.