Havoc director Gareth Evans has explained why the Tom Hardy fronted Netflix thriller is set in the US despite being filmed in Wales.
Set in an unnamed US city, Havoc sees Hardy star as a troubled detective named Walker who uncovers a conspiracy while tasked with protecting the son of a crooked politician.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Evans opened up about his decision to move the action from the UK, where the entire film was shot (including its shootouts and car chases), to the US.
Asked why, despite filming in Wales, Havoc was set in the US, Evans explained: "It was partly because, fundamentally, when I was wanting to write this story, it was functioning as two things.
"It was a love letter, not just to the Hong Kong heroic bloodshed genre, which I've spoken about endlessly and love dearly, the films of John Woo and Ringo Lam, but it was also a love letter to that '70s American crime cinema."
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Opening up about what influenced the decision to move the action to America, Evans recalled a number of classic Hollywood films, saying he discussed them with Hardy before filming.
"So like a lot of the reference points that me and Tom discussed early doors were things like Friedkin's The French Connection or Serpico or Michael Mann's Thief, the world of those films, I knew that that was an aesthetic that I wanted to achieve," Evans said.
He continued: "I guess in a way, it's that thing of being a kid growing up [and] all the films I watched, all the films that took me on a flight of adventure were American-set, in the criminal world of that. I felt like when I want cops running around shooting guns and everything else within that film felt more attuned to America than the UK."
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According to the BBC, Havoc was shot on location in Swansea with Swansea's University Bay campus providing the backdrop for exterior street shots and Brangwyn Hall becoming an American police precinct.
Meanwhile, a scene featuring a fishing shack was built in the countryside of Merthyr Mawr. The film is reportedly the largest feature film ever to be shot entirely in Wales.
Havoc is available to watch now on Netflix.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy.
A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.
In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
