Gerard Butler in Talks for Hunter Killer?

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=81222


Gerard Butler in Talks for Hunter Killer?


A few months back, it was reported that director Phillip Noyce (Salt) would be helming an adaptation of the novel "Firing Point" retitled Hunter Killer, produced by Neal Moritz's Original FIlms. Distributor Relativity Media even set the movie's release date for December 21, 2012. Written by Don Keith and George Wallace, the novel tells about a team of NAVY Seals in a submarine sent on a mission to Russia to stop an admiral from starting war with America.

ComingSoon.net has heard rumblings that Gerard Butler might be in talks to play one of the leading roles in the movie, that of Joe Glass, the Captain of the submarine Toledo. Butler appears in Marc Forster's Machine Gun Preacher, being released by Relativity on September 23, so it makes sense they'd want to keep that relationship going.

Butler's casting isn't confirmed as of yet, but from what we know of the novel, there are a lot more parts to be filled including three other key roles, so here's hoping there will be more news as this cast comes together.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Gerard-Butler-May-Be-Circling-Submarine-Thriller-Hunter-Killer-26329.html


Gerard Butler May Be Circling Submarine Thriller Hunter Killer


Gerard Butler’s on a world-saving kick lately. Shortly after the trailer for his drug-dealer-turned-freedom-fighter drama Machine Gun Preacher reached the Web, we’re seeing a story that links the burly 300 star to another thriller that would cast Butler as the captain of some butt-kicking Navy SEALS.

The story would be Hunter Killer, the name given to an adaptation of Don Keith and George Wallace’s novel Firing Point, which has been optioned by producer Neil Moritz’s Original Films with a potential to be distributed by Relativity Media. Coming Soon posted the news that Butler’s name was being considered for the role of Joe Glass, the captain of a submarine who must lead a team behind enemy lines in Russia to stop an adversary from launching an all-out war against the United States. At least they’re not officially calling it a remake of Crimson Tide or The Hunt for Red October.

The Relativity link makes sense, as the studio’s behind Butler’s Preacher, which was directed by Marc Forster. And seeing as how the studio also announced a (tentative) Dec. 21, 2012 release date for Hunter Killer, casting will have to ramp up shortly so production can begin. Butler certainly seems cut for this project, which sounds like it would require the leadership and physicality he brings to virtually every role. Then again, if Preacher brings Butler a sliver of the awards recognition we hear he’s angling for with the redemptive role, the actor might not need to do brainless action films like this anymore. Nothing is set in stone with this one just yet, but we may attach Butler’s name to Hunter Killer soon enough.

December 21, 2012 release date? Isn't that the day the world ends?

I thought that was meant to happen when 1999 became 2000 and then again in July this year.

LadyNOLA wrote:

December 21, 2012 release date? Isn't that the day the world ends?

That's when the current Mayan long count calendar ends. My current wall calendar ends December 31, 2011. My current pocket calendar ends December 31, 2012. I have lots of expired calendars. World is still here. I still have bills and debts to pay.

I've read that the ancient American Indians celebrated the ends of cycles of time, just like we do. We celebrate the weekend by getting drunk. We celebrate the end of the month by getting drunk. We celebrate the end of the year by getting drunk and setting things on fire. We celebrated the end of the last Christian millennium by spending a lot of money and sending the modern world into panic (Y2K). So we'll get drunk and set things on fire on December 21, 2012. I'll stay home with loaded guns in case some nuts decide looting is an acceptable way to celebrate.

I think I'll make a flamethrower. I'd like to set drunk looters on fire.

http://thefilmstage.com/news/phillip-noyce-leaves-hunter-killer-to-sink/

Phillip Noyce Leaves ‘Hunter Killer’ To Sink

With over a half year’s worth of pre-production under his belt, Salt director Phillip Noyce has reportedly dropped out of Relativity Media’s Hunter Killer, only days after it was announced that Gerard Butler was in talks to play the starring role of “an untested submarine captain who must work with a Navy SEAL team to rescue the Russian president, who has been taken prisoner during a military coup, in an effort to stop a rogue Russian General from igniting World War III.”

The film is based on George Wallace’s novel Firing Point, with an adapted script courtesy of Jamie Moss (X-Men: First Class, Escape from New York), John Kolvenbach (Coney Island) and Arne Schmidt (Chain Reaction). Production was set to begin later this year, but this setback will most likely push everything back a bit.

There is no word on why Noyce left the project, or if Butler was in talks for the role with the knowledge that Noyce was no longer attached [Moviehole via Coming Soon].

The plot feels a bit too close to The Hunt For Red October (coincidental considering Noyce directed two other Jack Ryan films) and/or Crimson Tide to make much of an original splash. That said, it’s been a while since we’ve gotten a solid submarine film, the most recent semi-decent tries being U-571 (2000), K:19: The Widowmaker (2002) and the Darren Aronofsky-scripted WW2-horror sub film Below (2002).

With nearly a decade since anything worthwhile, let’s hope Noyce’s replacement knows how to shoot tight spaces. What’s Wolfgang Petersen doing these days?

From the Anchorage Daily News:

http://community.adn.com/?q=adn/node/159789

Gerard Butler submarine thriller 'Hunter Killer' applies to film in Alaska

A big-budget military thriller about an American submarine captain's attempt to rescue the Russian president will soon be pre-approved for filming in Alaska, the state says.
The Relativity Media film, currently called "Hunter Killer," is in the planning stages. Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day,” “Shooter") is expected to direct with Gerard Butler (“300”) in talks to star, Variety reports.
A producer for the film has described the movie as a $50 million to $100 million project. In other words: Two or three times the size of "Big Miracle."
The state film office received the producers' request to pre-qualify "Hunter Killer" for the Alaska film incentive about a month ago, said Wanetta Ayers, director of the state Economic Development Division.
The state will likely approve the application soon, she said. “It would be the largest incentive ever awarded under the program."
"We just approved, or are in the beginning stages of approval, for four or five applications, including two feature films," Ayers said.
A pre-qualification does not mean that the movie will definitely shoot in Alaska. A spokeswoman for Relativity declined to comment for this story. Producers have also applied to film in other locations, according to the company.
As always, plans for filming locations -- and even whether the movie will be made -- could change at any moment.
The "Hunter Killer" script is based on the novel “Firing Point,” by George Wallace and Don Keith, according to Variety:
“(The) story follows an untested submarine captain who must work with a Navy SEAL team to rescue Russia's president, who's taken prisoner during a military coup. The two sides team to stop a rogue Russian general from igniting WWIII."
Butler was in talks to play the commander of the USS Toledo, the trade magazine reported.
A producer on the film, Jeff Waxman, told the Daily News this month that he hoped to make an action-thriller in Alaska. Filming would begin later this year, he said.
Waxman said he toured Whittier and other Alaska locations in January. "They rolled out the red carpet for us,” he said of the isolated, waterside town.
If you wanted a place that looks relatively Russian in Southcentral Alaska, you could do a lot worse than Whittier. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News photo.)He declined to name the film or talk about the plot at the time, but said the state film incentive, now under debate, was key to the project. “’Big Miracle’ went up there and ‘Frozen Ground,’ but this would be a bigger movie,” he said. “And if we can pull it off, which I think we can, people would want to come back.”
Anchorage production company SprocketHeads is working with the film-makers and will be handling all local questions about the project, said owner Carolyn Robinson. She declined to talk in detail about the film.
“I am elated and proud!” Robinson wrote in an email. “We'll be posting approved Hunter Killer updates on the SprocketHeads Facebook site.”

Release Dates: Warner Bros. Moves ‘The Seventh Son’ and ‘Beautiful Creatures’, ‘Robot & Frank’ Dated, ‘Hunter Killer’ Bumped

Quote :

Over at Relativity, director Antoine Fuqua now has one less deadline to worry about. His Hunter Killer, which had been scheduled for a December 21, 2012 opening, has now been pulled off the schedule altogether. Gerard Butler has been lined up to play a submarine captain Joe Glass since last fall, while Sam Worthington‘s been circling the part of a Navy SEAL. The story sees the characters teaming up to rescue the president of Russia, who’s been taken prisoner in a military coup, in an attempt to stop World War III.

full article:

http://www.slashfilm.com/release-dates-warner-bros-moves-the-seventh-son-beautiful-creatures-robot-frank-dated-hunter-killer-bumped/

http://www.ineedmyfix.com/2012/05/04/gerard-butler-will-no-longer-hunt-nor-kill-for-relativity/

Gerard Butler Will No Longer Hunt Nor Kill for Relativity

File this under: I knew it!

It’s already May and not only has not one frame been filmed of the thriller that Antoine Fuqua was supposed to be directing next, Hunter Killer with Gerard Butler as submarine captain Joe Glass and “possibly” Sam Worthington, but now Relativity has wiped it off of its slate altogether.

The film had a release date of December 21, 2012 confirmed, but as I said it hasn’t rolled and it is not on Butler’s supposedly set schedule of his next three films. ANOTHER Antoine Fuqua project supposedly is. Butler and Fuqua are reportedly making Olympus Has Fallen together, set to go before the cameras next month down in Louisiana. (Butler gets to revisit the scene of last spring’s “crimes” in Shreveport where Millennium Entertainment is based and Playing the Field was made as well. I’m sure the heartbroken belles are organizing a lynch mob) In that film, Butler would play a former Secret Service agent who works to prevent a terrorist attack on the White House.

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So the Russian President is tossed over for the Amerian President?

When is he looking after the British PM?

Yes, I have noticed the posting box format change a few days ago. I see at the bottom that this is now "Free Forum" instead of "ForumFree". Looks like a forum upgrade or change of some sort.