Hardcore Henry filming ruined 20 GoPro cameras

Director Ilya Naishuller broke numerous GoPros during the filming of Hardcore Henry.
Presented almost entirely from the perspective of its titular protagonist, the film is a beat-’em-up style action thriller which focuses on the actions of Henry – a robotically-enhanced amnesiac – as he fights a group of mercenaries who have kidnapped a woman he believes to be his wife Estelle (Haley Bennett).
With no single actor playing the main character, Ilya shot the movie with a series of GoPro cameras that were attached to the heads of various stuntmen, or sometimes even the director himself.
Drawing its visual storytelling from video games, Moscow-born Ilya admits that using the camera to stand in for the main character’s point of view (P.O.V.) presented certain challenges.
He told The Hollywood Reporter that at least 20 GoPros were casualties of the production and he often questioned his use of P.O.V. perspective throughout the entire film.
But with the support of long-time producer Timur Bekmambetov, who just directed the upcoming Ben-Hur remake, Ilya felt encouraged to pursue the innovative project.
“I had all the same questions that anyone would have when making a movie like this,” he said. “But Timur asked me the question: ‘Don’t you want to see a great POV action movie in the cinema?’And I said I would and he goes ‘Well why don’t you go make it?’ I got the chance to make a brand new motion picture experience and that opportunity comes once in a lifetime, or maybe a couple of times if you are James Cameron.”
The filmmaker adds he was aware that in an action-heavy film it can be hard to maintain tempo, so he was focused on managing the pace of the story during the editing phase.
“As I was writing the script and shooting the movie I was always thinking about finding the balance between violence versus humour and action versus slower moments,” he shared.
As of Sunday (10April16), Hardcore Henry has grossed $5.1 million (£3.5million) in North America and $2.1 million (£1.4 million) in other territories, against a budget of $10 million (£7 million).