It was back in August that Charlie Countryman helmer Fredrik Bond was slated to direct actor Gerard Butler in London Has Fallen, the forthcoming action sequel to last year’s hit, Olympus Has Fallen. Since then, Bond reportedly bailed on the project over a week ago, leaving the production six weeks to find a director.
Actor Gerard Butler will be putting in his time as an Eygptian desert god in Summit Entertainment’s upcoming film, Gods Of Eygpt from director Alex Proyas. But this week, we now have some particular movie news many of us probably didn’t see coming (I know I didn’t!).
If things work out, then it seems Nu Image may get its production going on May 5 of next year for the production of London Has Fallen, which will follow the events of the 2012 film Olympus Has Fallen, where North Korean paratroopers invaded the White House with a hail of bullets, rocket launchers and the threat of nuclear destruction. Screendaily reports the sequel will see Butler producing, as well as reprising his role as a resurrected Secret Service Agent alongside I, Frankenstein star Aaron Eckhart who will play the U.S. President, and Morgan Freeman as the House Speaker, in addition to actresses Angela Bassett returning as the Secret Service Director and Radha Mitchell as the wife of Banning’s character.
What’s tentatively known about the plot is that it will follow Butler, Eckhart and Bassett will be joining forces with an English MI6 agent to avert terroristic efforts to attack London on the day of the Prime Minister’s funeral. The film will be written by Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger who provided the script for the first film, in addition to Millenium Films’ recently wrapped Patrick Hughes-directed The Expendables 3.
Alan Siegel will also be producing along Mark Gill, Matt O’Toole and Danny Lerner, while Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Christine Crow will executive produce for Millenium.
The film did quite well at the box office, and although it took me a while to see it, I finally got down to watching it in recent months and enjoyed what its then-director, Anton Fuqua, gave us. (You can read my Film Of The Week review HERE). London Has Fallen doesn’t yet have a director in place, so more details will arrive soon enough.
QUESTION: What did you think of Olympus Has Fallen? And what do you think of the sequel announcement? Post your comments below or on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
With actor Russell Crowe, and directors Rupert Wyatt and Nicolas Winding Refn all passing up having anything to do with rebooting The Equalizer, Deadline is reporting that filmmaker Anton Fuqua is being eyed to helm Sony’s big screen adaptation of the television series. The film will reunite Fuqua with actor Denzel Washington since their previous work on the 2001 crime drama, Training Day, which earned Washington an Academy Award for Best Actor.