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First look at Tom Hardy thriller shot in Wales

Catriona Aitken
BBC News
Netflix Tom Hardy in character, pointing a gun at the camera. He has short dark hair and is wearing all black.Netflix
Hardy plays a detective who must face up to the demons of his past as a criminal underworld threatens to engulf his city

The first images have been released of a new Holywood action thriller starring Tom Hardy which was shot and produced across south Wales.

Havoc, written and directed by Welshman Gareth Evans, features filming locations in Cardiff, Swansea, and Port Talbot - despite being set in the US.

Hardy plays a detective fighting his way through the criminal underworld threatening to engulf his entire city.

The film's stars were also spotted enjoying time off in places such as Tenby, Pembrokeshire, and Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, while shooting back in 2021.

Netflix A man wearing a black police stab vest and check shirt. He is firing a rifle, aimed to the left of the shot.Netflix
The Netflix action thriller was shot and produced at locations across south Wales

During the film, which launches on Netflix on 25 April, Hardy's character, Walker, is forced to face up to the demons of his past as he attempts to rescue a crooked politician's estranged son in the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong.

The team got creative with what Wales had to offer, with Swansea's Guildhall even transformed into a US police station.

Netflix Tom hardy, who has another man in a chokehold. Both men are wearing all black and in the background is a nightclub with people dancing.Netflix
Havoc was written and directed by Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans and will be released in April

The cast also includes Oscar winner Forest Whittaker- who posted his enjoyment of Wales on social media - as well as Jessie Mei Li, known for Netflix fantasy series Shadow and Bone, and Deadwood actor Timothy Olyphant.

Netflix Tom Hardy, who has short dark hair and is wearing all black. he is looking at something out of shot and is stood next to actress Jessie Mei lei, who has tied-back dark hair and is dressed as a police officer, who is also looking to something in front of them.Netflix
Shadow and Bone actor Jessie Mei Li stars alongside Hardy in the new film

Posting to Instagram, director Evans, who hails from Hirwaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said making the film had been "a long old road filled with scheduling issues, strikes and more scheduling issues" but added he was "beyond excited and privileged to be working with such immense talent" .

The University of Glamorgan scriptwriting graduate made his filmmaking name in Indonesian action crime films such as The Raid.