EXCLUSIVE: Gareth Evans has found his new home for the next several years as the director of The Raid franchise has signed an exclusive deal with Netflix to produce and direct films for the studio. As part of the new partnership, Evans has set the action thriller Havoc as the first film under the deal with Tom Hardy on board to star.

Evans will write and direct the pic as well as produce for One More One Productions, as will Hardy, Ed Talfan for Severn Screen and Aram Tertzakian for XYZ Films. The story is set after a drug deal gone wrong, when a bruised detective must fight his way through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s estranged son, while unraveling a deep web of corruption and conspiracy that ensnares his entire city.

Netflix and Evans have been working through the new deal for some time but wanted to make sure Hardy was locked up as they saw this as the first project to unveil under the deal. Evans and Netflix previously worked on the horror thriller Apostle, starring Dan Stevens, and following production, the streamer saw Evans style film the perfect fit for Netflix and began working out a deal to get him back in business for the foreseeable future.

Evans early films Merantau, and The Raid 1 & 2 brought the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat into world cinema. Following his return to the UK from Indonesia, Apostle, a British folk-horror starring Stevens, Michael Sheen and Lucy Boynton was shot entirely in Wales and released on Netflix in 2018.

He most recently co-created with his longtime collaborator Matt Flannery the TV series Gangs of London for Sky Atlantic and AMC, on which Ed Talfan served as producer for the critically acclaimed “Episode 5.” The show debuted in the UK in April 2020, followed by the U.S. in October.

As for Hardy, the Oscar-nominated actor was most recently playing gangster Al Capone in Capone. He next can be seen reprising the role of Eddie Brock in Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Hardy and Evans are both repped by Range Media Partners. Hardy is also repped by United Agents, and Sloane Offer. Evans is also repped by WME, Management 360 and Jackoway Austen Tyerman

“Havoc,” an action thriller starring Tom Hardy and Forest Whitaker, has rounded out its cast.

In addition to the previously announced Hardy and Whitaker, the Netflix movie will also feature Timothy Olyphant, “Training Day” and “The Umbrella Academy” actor Justin Cornwell, star of the upcoming Edgar Wright horror film “Last Night in Soho” Jessie Mei Li and Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann. Supporting cast members include Quelin Sepulveda, “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia” actor Luis Guzmán, “Headshot” star Sunny Pang, and UFC mixed martial artist Michelle Waterson.