Gerard Butler is heading into John McClane territory.
A sequel to last year’s White House actioner “Olympus Has Fallen” has been set into motion, with original stars Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell set to reprise their roles from the first film, which grossed over $160 million worldwide on a $70 million production budget. Original screenwriters Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger are also slated to return for the follow-up, according to story-breaker Screen Daily.
Titled “London Has Fallen,” the new film will center on Secret Service Agent Mike Banning’s (Butler) attempts to foil a terrorist plot at the London funeral of the British Prime Minister with the help of U.S. President Benjamin Asher (Eckhart) and an English MI6 operative. It’s slated to begin shooting on May 5 in the U.K. capital, with producers currently on the search for a replacement for original director Antoine Fuqua.
As opposed to “Olympus,” which was distributed by FilmDistrict, “London Has Fallen” will likely (and rather counterintuitively) be released in the U.S. through Universal’s prestige division Focus Features under incoming CEO Peter Schlessel.
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