James McAvoy is back to his adventurous ways in Welcome to the Punch. Screen Daily revealed this first look image which features McAvoy in the foreground looking slightly menacing in front of a sporty vehicle and glass covered corner building.
The setting is the streets of London where a criminal played by Mark Strong is forced to return to his old stomping ground after his son gets into some trouble with a heist gone wrong and becomes the unlikely ally of a local detective (James McAvoy).
Director Eran Creevy talked shop about some of the complications they faced with the production:
“In terms of challenges, the first two weeks were very action heavy. Squibs were going off everywhere. The first day on set was a huge action scene. A whole side of a hotel wall was blown out by gunfire. If we’d done it wrong we would have had to reset the wall, put all the squibs back in and done a two-hour reset, pushing us behind from day one. You have to grab the bull by the horns. And thankfully many times luck was on our side.”
The film also boasts a direct connect to Ridley Scott. Scott has been heavily involved in the editing process, signing on as executive producer and offering his services as an advisor. Creevy describes this experience as “incredible” and it should be interesting to see his influence on the project.
There is no official release date yet, but the film may be heading to Austin for the upcoming SXSW film festival taking place in March.