Feature Film
Guns Akimbo
2019
Filmed In
Auckland
Towns & Areas
Auckland CBD (Customs Street and Queen Street) · Studio West, Glen Eden
The Story
An anarchic, adrenaline-fueled action-comedy. A mundane video game developer wakes up to find guns bolted to his hands and himself forced to compete in a real-life, city-wide deathmatch streamed online to millions.
The Stars
Daniel Radcliffe and Samara Weaving. Radcliffe carries much of the film's manic energy across scenes shot entirely within central Auckland.
Behind the Lens
Kiwi writer-director Jason Lei Howden. Howden built the project's chaotic tone from his own background in genre and action filmmaking.
Why NZ?
Though set in a gritty, unnamed American metropolis, this hyper-stylized film was shot right in the heart of Auckland. Movie buffs will recognize the neon-lit streets of the Auckland CBD and the industrial docks serving as the backdrop for the high-octane gunfights. It's one of several examples of Auckland doubling for an unnamed, gritty American city without needing to leave the country at all. It's a reminder of how often New Zealand's cities double for places they were never meant to resemble.
On Set
A viral on-set photo of Daniel Radcliffe holding his prop weapons was widely captioned online as "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Bullets" — a nod to how far the role sat from his best-known part. Few viewers realised just how much of the film's American-feeling backdrop was actually Auckland by night.
Legacy
A passion project for star Daniel Radcliffe, the film leaned into the kind of anarchic, R-rated action-comedy tone rarely associated with his earlier, family-friendly franchise work.
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