The Tom Hardy led Havoc is finally getting a release on Netflix. What do we know about the Gareth Evans production?
In a few words, not much. Well, that’s not entirely true, but this movie from The Raid’s Gareth Evans finished shooting way back in the fall of 2021. Havoc seems to have just disappeared once filming wrapped. It looks like the film will finally hit Netflix screens later this year. What took so long?
What’s It About?
The film looks to continue Evans’ run in the crime/action/thriller genre. This time around, a detective gets pulled into a drug deal gone wrong. When he starts investigating, he finds that a politician’s son is involved. While trying to figure out how the whole thing fits together, the detective finds a city-wide corruption scheme. He has to wade through it to ensure the kid gets out okay but keep himself safe from the politicians pulling the strings.
It’s not as straightforward as The Raid films, where we root for the lead to escape a building full of criminals alive, but the twists and turns that could be present sound enticing. We know he can do action. Can he pull off political intrigue? Let’s hope so, or Netflix’s deal may have been a mistake.
Who’s In It?
Before the film was announced, Evans had signed an overall deal with Netflix after the streamer was impressed with his movie The Apostle. They wanted to keep him on board as long as possible and offered him a multi-year deal to create projects under their banner. Havoc is the first film in that deal, but it has taken years to complete. Luckily, with the cast he assembled, it might be worth the wait.
Tom Hardy
Before they announced the new film, they wanted to make sure Hardy was on board as both the lead and a producer. He’ll play the detective who is trying to uncover the conspiracy that is taking over the city. Hardy can easily play the gruff and gritty role when called upon to do so. This seems like an easy task for him and very much in his wheelhouse.
Forest Whitaker
No word on what role he will be playing in the film, but if history is any indication, he’ll be another cop. He has played them a lot throughout his career. It would be nice to see him switch it up and occasionally play the opposite. In the past, he has taken on villainous roles like Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland but is usually known as one of the good guys.
Timothy Olyphant
He has to be a politician, right? Olyphant, for sure, gives off politician vibes sometimes. I guess he could be the cop, and Whitaker could be the politician. With his roles on Deadwood and Justified, that would make sense. It would be nice to see him just be a smarmy official who thinks he could get away with anything. Let him really play with the role. At least it’s something I would like to see.
Production
So why has it taken this long for the film to come out? Two big reasons seem to come to mind. The writer’s strike and the actor’s strike. Even though the film wrapped in 2021, post-production could have hindered the film moving forward at a steady pace. This is pure speculation, but it would have had to be pushed back if additional ADR or other work were needed. Back in November 2022, Evans commented on the lack of updates on his Instagram:
We’re still plugging away at it, doing all we can to make the film the best it can be. Part of that involves a small amount of additional photography that we are hoping to shoot soon – we’re almost there – but “almost there” still means it will be some time before the film is complete and ready for release.
If you combine all this with Hardy’s hectic schedule, the guy has three movies coming out this year, and it is possible that any additional photography had to wait for Hardy’s schedule to open up. Then, with both a writer’s strike and an actor’s strike, you could see the film having to be put aside for almost a year from when Evans made that post. Hopefully, that has been the case, and there are no production problems with Netflix. They have a reputation of being pretty hands-off with filmmakers they bring into the fold, but with streaming starting to implode, this could be changing.
Since the film is a crime thriller that appears to be set in the real world, it doesn’t seem like there should be a lot of post-production to do. Some CGI-heavy superhero movies have come and gone since the film wrapped. Yes, they have a much higher budget to help with this, but Havoc doesn’t seem like a movie that needs a lot of touch-ups. I could be wrong, and once a trailer is released, we’ll find out.
Are you looking forward to Havoc? Let us know in the comments below.
