Henry was played by ten different stuntmen and cameramen including director Ilya Naishuller. He was originally played by Russian stuntman/camera operator Sergey Valyaev but the camera rig used in production eventually caused him severe neck pain and the role was given to Andrei Dementiev--who also suffered neck pain as well in addition to losing a tooth after being struck by a stuntman. In the scenes where Danila Kozlovsky and Sharlto Copley talked directly to Henry, Valyaev and Dementiev wore shades to prevent the actors or actresses from looking at them instead of the camera.
Almost entirely shot using GoPro Hero3 Black Edition cameras.
The film premiered as "Hardcore" at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on 9/12/2015. It became one of the most popular movies at the festival and led to a bidding war among Lionsgate, Universal and STX Entertainment. Ultimately, STX acquired worldwide rights, including a wide release commitment, for $10 million, becoming the studio's first festival acquisition. It was re titled "Hardcore Henry" for its domestic release.
Akan claiming that 100,000 baseball bats were sold in Russia compared to 50 baseballs is actually true, though the apparent numbers are skewed closer to 500,000:1.
Ilya Naishuller: Estelle's colleague, Timothy, who gets his gut and throat slashed. Later, he's the mercenary that Hippy Jimmy simultaneously tortures for info and gets high on ganja.