Produced by Timur Bekmambetov, Starring Sharlto Copley and Haley Bennett
Director Ilya Naishuller’s high-octane, sci-fi thriller “Hardcore” will make its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival as part of the festival’s popular Midnight Madness series.
Produced by Timur Bekmambetov (“Night Watch,” “Wanted,” “Unfriended”), “Hardcore” is told entirely from the point of view of a cyborg named Henry. Resurrected with no recollection of his past, Henry (the audience) and his ally, Jimmy (Sharlto Copley, “District 9”) must fight through the streets of Moscow in pursuit of Henry’s kidnapped wife in the world’s first action-adventure film to be shot 100% from the first person perspective. Naishuller also wrote and produced “Hardcore.” Producers are Timur Bekmambetov, Inga Vainshtein Smith and Ekaterina Kononeko.
“Hardcore” began with Naishuller’s action-packed short “Bad Motherfucker,” also shot in the same POV style. Unique and irreverent, it became a social media sensation, attracting over 75 million views, including the attention of filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov.
“I’d never seen anything like it. It was intense, riveting, thrilling, dangerous, defiant … and I definitely wanted to see more,” Bekmambetov says.
He approached Naishuller about expanding his vision into a feature length film and “Hardcore” was born. Shot almost entirely on GoPro cameras with custom engineered rigs, “Hardcore” completely abandons, even eviscerates traditional filmmaking and replaces it with a raw and immediate experience, allowing the audience to become one with the protagonist so viewers go on a very personal and breathtaking journey with Henry. Every member of the cast and crew had to re-learn and re-define their craft because of Naishuller’s unique cinematic interpretation.
“Action cinema has always thrived on capturing the sensation of seeing someone participate in dangerous situations that most people would in real life rather avoid. My goal with ‘Hardcore’ was to go a step further and throw the audience right into the body of the hero, to have them experience the primal, exhilarating feeling that we usually view from a much safer distance and pull no punches while I’m at it.”
WME is the US and international sales agent for “Hardcore” at the Toronto Film Festival. Connect with “Hardcore” via https://www.facebook.com/HARDCORE.2015, https://twitter.com/HardcoreTheFilm, http://www.hardcorethemovie.com/
Timur Bekmambetov presents a Bazelevs and Versus Pictures production of an Ilya Naishuller film. “Hardcore” stars Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett, Andrey Dementiev, Dasha Charusa and Sveta Ustinova. Casting is by Ella Skovorodina, John McAlary, C.S.A. and Sandra Deza. Editors are Steve Mirkovich, A.C.E. and Vlad Kaptur. Music is by Dasha Charusha. Directors of photography are Seva Kaptur, Feodor Lyass, Pavel Kapinos. Co-executive producer is Mitch Grobman. Executive producers are Sharlto Copley, Will Stewart, Karina Sinonenko, Alex A. Ginzburg, Tony Lee. “Hardcore” is produced by Timur Bekmambetov, Ilya Naishuller, Inga Vainshtein Smith and Ekaterina Kononenko. “Hardcore” is written and directed by Ilya Naishuller.