Gerard Butler’s one-man mission to save London just met disaster. If you’ll recall, Butler saved the White House all by himself in Olympus Has Fallen. Someone decided a London sequel was a great idea because Hollywood loves to milk a concept for all it’s worth. Multimillions of dollars funded a sequel where Butler’s Secret Service agent attends the funeral of the British prime minister. Terrorists attack, and only Butler can rescue England (including the Queen, perhaps) before sundown.
Audiences will have to wait to see Butler yell, “Bloody hell!” while streaking past Big Ben. The sequel’s planned release date shifted from October 2 to the January 2016 dumping grounds:
It was certain to happen. Someone blinked, and it was Gramercy Pictures & Focus Features. A few days after 20th Century Fox switched around dates and moved up its Matt Damon-Jessica Chastain sci-fi film The Martian to the very crowded weekend of October 2, Gramercy and Focus decided to move its action thriller London Has Fallen from that date and off its 2015 slate.
In addition to The Martian, October 2nd is now home to The Weinstein Co.’s Adam Jones starring Bradley Cooper and Sony’s The Walk starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Officially, Gerard Butler’s movie made way for The Martian, but let’s get real. Focus Features realized their sequel was better suited for a low-key January release; and perhaps the film would over-perform with lowered expectations.
This plan has been foiled too! London Has Fallen now sits on the same release date as another London-set action film, Criminal, starring Gary Oldman and Kevin Costner. Looks like we have a game of release-date chicken on our hands, mates.
(Via Deadline)
