Let’s face it – Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart are toast.
That’s how it’s looking at the moment, anyway, as Sony has moved the release of Roland Emmerich’s “White House Down” – essentially a higher-profile version of Butler and Eckhart’s “Olympus Has Fallen” that stars Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx – from November 1 to June 28, 2013.
Though Millenium Films hasn’t yet announced a release date for “Olympus,” which is currently in production, Sony is clearly hoping to get a theatrical jump on the nearly-identical “‘Die Hard’-in-the-White-House”-style action flick by moving up the release of their film a full four months.
The news was broken by Deadline.
“White House Down” stars Channing Tatum as a secret-service agent who must protect the President of the United States (Foxx) following the takeover of the presidential residence by a paramilitary organization. The Antoine Fuqua-directed “Olympus Has Fallen,” meanwhile, has Butler playing the role of the heroic secret-service agent to Eckhart’s U.S. President. The plot of the latter film sees a group of North Korean terrorists taking over the White House with plans to set off a nuclear bomb there.
Supporting casts for the two projects include Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods and Richard Jenkins (“White House Down”) and Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell and Dylan McDermott (“Olympus Has Fallen”).
Which of the “White House in peril” films do you think will prove a bigger hit at the box-office? Do you prefer one over the other based on cast and/or director? Sound off in the comments!