FILM · 2018 · UK
Hunter Killer
36 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (36)
- #001
To achieve greater authenticity, the cast and crew partnered with the United States Navy in nearly every area of Hunter Killer's design.
- #002
It is one of Michael Nyqvist's last films before his death in 2017.
- #003
When the Russian Captain Andropov mentions former trainees, one of the names is Alexei Vostrikov — Harrison Ford's character in K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), who is also a submarine captain.
- #004
The Russian submarine is an Akula class. Akula means "shark" in Russian.
- #005
The DSRV (Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle) "Mystic" in this film is the same DSRV seen in The Hunt for Red October. Commissioned in 1977, the vessel was retired in 2008 and donated to the Naval Undersea Museum.
- #006
The USS Arkansas is indeed a Virginia-class submarine, with the hull number SSN-800. Its construction began in 2018 and it was planned to enter service in 2023.
- #007
Lead actor Gerard Butler, along with director Donovan Marsh, boarded the USS Houston (SSN 713) from May 6 to May 9 for research purposes. To make the film and screenplay more realistic, they discovered certain nuances of a real submarine and its crew.
- #008
On June 16, 2015, the Alaska Dispatch News (ADN) reported that after Alaska Governor Bill Walker signed legislation that essentially ended the state's film subsidy program, Hunter-Killer producers cancelled all previously planned efforts to shoot exteriors in Alaska for the project.
- #009
Before filming began, Donovan Marsh and Gerard Butler went to Pearl Harbor and boarded a Virginia-class nuclear submarine much like the USS Arkansas for a three-day tour. The trip gave Marsh one of his most important ideas: to build the submarine's set on a giant hydraulic platform that could realistically simulate the movement of the sea.
- #010
Most of the action scenes set in Russia were shot in Bulgaria. This is a real Bulgarian naval base in Varna on the Black Sea coast (the tower is located at 43°11'20.9"N 27°54'50.7"E), standing in for the Russian naval base in Polyarny, the country's northwesternmost city, where Admiral Felon Durov takes his own President hostage. The interior of the grand Polyarny Command Center, along with the interiors of Commander Andropov's Russian submarine and the USS Arkansas sonar room, were built at Nu Boyana Studios in Sofia, Bulgaria.
- #011
While aboard the Houston, Butler slept in the XO's cabin. Director Donovan Marsh slept in the enlisted crew's quarters.
- #012
Hunter Killer is adapted from the book "Firing Point," co-written by George Wallace, a former highly experienced commander of the nuclear submarine USS Houston, and Don Keith, an award-winning journalist and bestselling author. Writers Arne L. Schmidt and Jamie Moss condensed the novel's 700 pages.
- #013
It was initially set to be shot in Alaska, in the port town of Whittier, which would stand in for a Russian naval base during the winter months. Logistical problems, including a shortage of accommodation for the film crew, caused the production to relocate and the screenplay to be rewritten.
- #014
The exterior of the USS Arkansas was built in the famous water tank at Pinewood Studios, where the water scenes of many films have been shot. This is where Commander Glass and his men prepare the submarine for their mission in Russian territorial waters. It is also where the Russian submarines were shot alongside the Arkansas and where Glass first meets his colleague from the Beaman underground operations. The underwater scene in which Beaman tries to rescue the Russian president was shot in the giant tanks at Leavesden Studios.
- #015
Principal photography on the film began on July 25, 2016, in London and Bulgaria. The interior sets of a Virginia-class Hunter Killer submarine were built at Ealing Studios using plans approved by the US Navy, with the spaces slightly enlarged to allow freer camera movement. The sets were mounted on a gimbal to simulate the movement of the sea. Ealing also housed a Pentagon set where US military personnel follow the submarine action. The exterior set of the main Hunter Killer submarine was built in Pinewood Studios' 806,000-gallon exterior water tank, while the underwater scenes were shot using a separate water tank at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, also just outside London. The interiors of the Russian base were built as sets at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital. The offices of the insurance company Legal & General in Kingswood, Surrey, were used as a filming location for the Pentagon scenes.
- #016
The film was scheduled to be released in Russia on November 1, but it did not receive an exhibition license from the Ministry of Culture. The ministry stated that the copy of the film submitted by the distributor for review was of low quality and was delivered too late for the new film to be reviewed by the ministry in time.
- #017
At first glance, the front of the Russian Akula-class submarine has an impressive row of windows (similar to a ship's bridge), but these are not windows; they are believed to be intakes for water flow within the double-hulled body (to help with stealth) and for reactor cooling.
- #018
While the Arkansas sits on the bottom hiding from its pursuers, parts of the outer hull are shown buckling under water pressure. The outer hull is not the pressure hull, does not withstand water pressure, and has no reason to buckle. The pressure hull is inside the outer hull, and any buckling it might experience would not be visible from outside the vessel.
- #019
Hunter Killer was a project years in the making. In 2011, Pierre Morel (Taken) was reported to be directing this geopolitical action thriller. He ultimately chose to pursue other work and was replaced by Australian Phillip Noyce (WarGames), who also withdrew. Gerard Butler's strong interest in playing Captain Joe Glass, a character defined more by audacious strategy than physical bravery, accelerated the project's development.
- #020
There would be no logical reason for Glass to waste time traveling to Portsmouth, a British naval base 700 kilometers from Faslane on England's southern coast. At its farthest point, Scotland's Lochaber region, where he hunts, is only about 130 km from Faslane.
- #021
Gerard Butler and director Donovan Marsh spent several days aboard the USS Houston for research. The USS Houston was for a time under the command of Major George Wallace, USN Ret., who co-wrote "Firing Point," the novel on which the film is based, with Don Keith.
- #022
Toby Stephens also played a Navy SEAL in 13 Hours (2016).
- #023
Faslane (HMNB Clyde) is a Royal Navy base in Scotland, and Gerard Butler is himself from Scotland, not far from Faslane. Faslane is in Scotland, specifically on the west coast.
- #024
Early in the film, CJCS Charles Donnegan (Gary Oldman) tells RA John Fisk (Common): "Admiral Fisk, I don't think I need to explain to a war hero like you that when someone shoots at you, you know their intent." Rear Admiral Fisk's decorations include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit. The Purple Heart is awarded for wounds received in combat, but none of the other decorations display the V device that indicates valor awards.
- #025
The submarine film genre has enjoyed great success since the beginnings of commercial cinema. From the 1915 silent film The Secret of the Submarine to the many World War II submarine films, the innovative and bloody German film The Boat (Das Boot), and the adaptations of Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide, producers have not shied away from filming the confined space of a submarine filled with sailors grappling with entrapment, torment and extreme danger. And Kelsey Grammer starred in Down Periscope.
- #026
This film has two characters named Cobb and Weps. Crimson Tide has two characters with these names because COB stands for Chief of the Boat and WEPS for Weapons Officer.
- #027
Both Butler and Oldman have played Dracula on screen: Butler in Dracula 2000 (2000) and Oldman in Dracula (1992).
- #028
Tony Scott was at one point set to direct.
- #029
Gary Oldman and Ilia Volok had previously appeared together in Air Force One (1997).
- #030
Both Toby Stephens and Michael Gor appeared in the James Bond film Die Another Day.
- #031
Antoine Fuqua was previously attached as director but later moved on to other projects.
- #032
McG was also considered as a director.
- #033
Composer Dominic Lewis was initially hired to score the film.
- #034
Charlie's grandfather was a submariner in World War II, and he said he brought his grandfather's experience into his performance.
- #035
At the helm of Hunter Killer is Donovan Marsh, a young director unknown to the public who had already honed his action chops with iNumber Number (though it did not receive a theatrical release in Hexagon).
- #036
The cast includes Gerard Butler, Toby Stephens, Michael Gor and Colin Stinton. Butler and Stinton appeared in Pierce Brosnan's Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. Stephens and Gor appeared in Pierce Brosnan's Bond film Die Another Day. Both of those films, and this one, were shot at Pinewood.
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