Taglines: Start a battle to stop a war.
A U.S. submarine, the USS Tampa Bay, vanishes while shadowing a Russian Akula-class submarine in the Arctic. Rear Admiral John Fisk sends a Virginia-class submarine, the USS Arkansas, under the command of newly-promoted and unorthodox Commander Joe Glass to investigate.
At the same time, a Navy SEAL team under the command of Lieutenant Bill Beaman is sent in to discreetly observe a Russian naval base, but their mission is swiftly complicated when Martinelli, the team’s new DM recruit, is rendered unconscious during the HALO drop. When they arrive at the naval base, they witness defense minister Dmitri Durov conducting a coup d’eta and taking Russian President Zakarin prisoner, and swiftly realize that Durov intends to trigger a war.
vHunter Killer is a 2018 American action thriller film directed by Donovan Marsh, written by Arne Schmidt and Jamie Moss, and based on the 2012 novel Firing Point by Don Keith and George Wallace. The film stars Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Michael Nyqvist (in one of his final film roles), Common, Linda Cardellini and Toby Stephens, and follows a group of Navy SEALs who rescue the captured Russian President from a coup.
Hunter Killer was released in the United States on October 26, 2018, by Summit Entertainment. A box office flop, the film received mixed reviews from critics, who saw it as “an undemanding, by-the-numbers actioner”. It grossed $15.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $13.6 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $29.3 million.
In the United States and Canada, Hunter Killer was released alongside Indivisible and Johnny English Strikes Again, and was projected to gross $5–9 million from 2,720 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $2.6 million on its first day, including $420,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $6.7 million, finishing fifth at the box office and marking the worst debut for Butler since Playing for Keeps ($5.8 million) in 2012. The film made $3.5 million in its second weekend, falling to ninth.
Principal photography on the film began on July 25, 2016, in London, and in Bulgaria. Interior sets of a Virginia-class Hunter Killer submarine were built at Ealing Studios, using blueprints approved by the U.S. Navy, with the spaces expanded slightly to allow freer camera movement. The sets were mounted on a gimbal to simulate the movement of the sea. Ealing also hosted a Pentagon set from where U.S. military personnel track the submarine action.
An exterior set of the main Hunter Killer submarine was built in Pinewood Studios’ 806,000-gallon exterior water tank, while underwater scenes were shot using a separate water tank at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, also just outside London. Interiors of the Russian base were built as sets at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Bulgarian capital, Sofia.
Hunter Killer (2018)
Directed by: Donovan Marsh
Starring: Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Common, Corey Johnson, Adam James, Henry Goodman, Jacob Scipio, Will Attenborough, Shane Taylor, Mikey Collins, Carter MacIntyre, Dempsey Bovell
Screenplay by: Arne Schmidt, Jamie Moss
Production Design by: Jon Henson, James H. Spencer
Cinematography by: Tom Marais
Film Editing by: Michael J. Duthie
Costume Design by: Caroline Harris
Set Decoration by: Orlin Grozdanov, Robert Wischhusen-Hayes
Art Direction by: Gary Baugh, Ben Collins, Alexei Karaghiaur, Andrew Munro, Nic Pallace, Chris Peters, Ivan Ranghelov
Music by: Trevor Morris
MPAA Rating: R for violence and some language.
Distributed by: Lionsgate Films, Summit Entertainment
Release Date: October 26, 2018
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