London Has Fallen heads to AFM

Okay, two things. I remember some interview where the person asked Gerry about a sequel and Gerry laughed and was throwing out names. He acted like it was funny. Looks like it's not funny anymore and they are going after the $$$$. Has Hollywood ran out of original ideas?

And is Gerry's production company (formally Evil Twins) now named G-Base? That is too close to G-Butt.

It sounds kind of like freebase, as in freebasing drugs. Bad choice.

[Maybe it's from GB (Gerry Butler) ASe (Alan Segel). Hmmmm.....
...Still stupid]


http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/afm/afm-news/london-has-fallen-heads-to-afm/5063031.article


London Has Fallen heads to AFM

29 October, 2013 | By Jeremy Kay

EXCLUSIVE: Nu Image will kick off talks on what is likely to become one of the must-haves of the market as Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman prepare to reprise their roles from the original action smash.

Millennium Films is producing and financing London Has Fallen and Alan Siegel and Gerard Butler’s G-Base will also produce. Focus Features is likely to distribute in the US under the auspices of incoming CEO Peter Schlessel, whose FilmDistrict released the original last March.

Shooting is scheduled to begin in London on May 5 2014 on the story of a plot to strike the city during the funeral of the British Prime Minister. Only the President Of The United States, his secret service head and an English MI6 agent can save the day. Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell also star.

Butler, Siegel, Mark Gill, Matt O’Toole and Danny Lerner will serve as producers while executive producers are Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Christine Crow.

Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger will return to write the screenplay and the producers are out to directors.

Olympus Has Fallen (pictured) scored $161m worldwide earlier this year, of which $62.1m came from international and $98.9m from domestic box office.

http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/gerard-butler-morgan-freeman-and-aaron-eckhart-to-return-in-the-sequel-london-has-fallen

Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, and Aaron Eckhart leave the White House for the sequel London Has Fallen


Who would have thought that Gerard Butler would have beaten Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx at the box office? In the showdown of Presidential movies, OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN fared a lot better than WHITE HOUSE DOWN. In fact, OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN performed well enough to warrant a sequel. Screen Daily is reporting that not only will Butler return for the sequel LONDON HAS FALLEN, but so will Aaron Eckhart, Radha Mitchell, Angela Bassett and Morgan Freeman.

LONDON HAS FALLEN will begin production in May 2014 and will be produced by Millennium Films and Focus Features. There is even a plot synopsis:

A plot to strike the city during the funeral of the British Prime Minister. Only the President Of The United States, his secret service head and an English MI6 agent can save the day.

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN was a fun action movie that felt like a big screen version of 24 (director Antoine Fuqua was once attached to the movie version of Kiefer Sutherland's recently revived series) but received middling reviews from critics. The $70 million budgeted film went on to gross $160 million worldwide. While those are not huge numbers, they do represent the best film box office for FilmDistrict, who released OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN.

No word on whether Antoine Fuqua is returning for LONDON HAS FALLEN, but I would expect if he is not that a new director will be announced soon. With everyone else returning, it would be nice to see some consistency behind the camera as well. Maybe this can become a new franchise where Gerard Butler goes around the world destroying famous cities. What is next, TOKYO HAS FALLEN? PARIS HAS FALLEN? The possibilities are endless!


- See more at: http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/gerard-butler-morgan-freeman-and-aaron-eckhart-to-return-in-the-sequel-london-has-fallen#sthash.1nnH3hKT.dpuf

It looks like Antoine Fuqua won't be returning to direct.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/afm-gerard-butler-morgan-freeman-651574

AFM: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman to Reprise Roles in Sequel 'London Has Fallen'


Aaron Eckhart is also returning for the follow-up to White House terrorist thriller "Olympus Has Fallen."

Millennium Films is pushing ahead with sequel London Has Fallen, continuing the action-adventure that began with this spring's Olympus Has Fallen.


Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman are reprising their roles in the sequel, which is sure to be a hot project at the upcoming American Film Market. Millennium's sister company Nu Image will shop the film to foreign buyers at AFM.

This time out, the action is set in London, where the three title characters -- a U.S. Secret Service agent (Butler), the U.S. president (Eckhart) the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (Freeman) -- are attending the funeral of the British prime minister.

Released in March, Olympus Has Fallen grossed a better-than-expected $98.9 million for domestic distributor FilmDistrict and a solid $62.1 million overseas for a worldwide total of $161 million.

News of the sequel comes a time of transition for Peter Schlessel's FilmDistrict, which is essentially being absorbed by Focus Features as Schlessel takes over the reins of Universal's specialty division. Insiders say Focus is likely to distribute London Has Fallen, since FilmDistrict has an option on the sequel.

Antoine Fuqua, who directed Olympus Has Fallen, won't return. The project is now out to other directors, with Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger returning to write the screenplay. Millennium is producing with Butler's production venture G-Base. Producers are Butler, Alan Siegel, Mark Gill, Matt O'Toole and Danny Lerner.

Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Christine Crow.

Looks like the actors haven't signed a contract yet......

http://www.thewrap.com/olympus-fallen-sequel-gerard-butler-aaron-eckhart-save-london-next/

‘Olympus Has Fallen’ Sequel: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart to Save London Next

Avi Lerner’s Millennium Films is packaging the project in advance of next week’s American Film Market

“White House Down” may have gone down at the box office but a sequel to “Olympus Has Fallen” is preparing to rise, as Millennium Films is in the process of packaging the sequel “London Has Fallen” in advance of next week’s American Film Market, multiple individuals familiar with the situation have told TheWrap.

While there are no deals in place with talent just yet, “Olympus” stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell are all expected to reprise their roles.

Also Read: ‘White House Down’ Vs ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ Mashup: Casting the Perfect Mega-Movie

FilmDistrict distributed the original and has an option on the sequel, but with CEO Peter Schlessel heading to Focus Features, the latter company is likely to distribute “London Has Fallen” in the U.S.

The “Olympus” team of Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger will return to write the screenplay, which will find Butler and Eckhart teaming with an English MI6 agent to save London from a terrorist attack during the funeral of the British Prime Minister.

Millennium will produce and finance the sequel, which Butler will produce along with Alan Siegel, Mark Gill, Matt O’Toole and Danny Lerner. Millennium’s Avi Lerner will executive produce with Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Christine Crow.

Also Read: How ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ Pulled Off the Year’s Biggest Box-Office Surprise

The producers are currently searching for a director, as Antoine Fuqua will not be returning for the sequel, which is slated to start production on May 5, 2014. Nu Image will shop foreign rights at AFM.

“Olympus Has Fallen” grossed $161 million worldwide and was made for about half the budget of “White House Down,” which grossed $204 million worldwide and is not expected to lead to a sequel.

The “London Has Fallen” news was first reported by Screen Daily.

http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/movies/gerard-butler-london-has-fallen/77041?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, and Aaron Eckhart Returning for OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN Sequel LONDON HAS FALLEN

This year’s battle of the White House actioners did not play out as most expected. Director Roland Emmerich’s Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx-fronted White House Down was supposed to be a massive summer hit, but instead the film only managed to gross $73 million domestically. March’s Olympus Has Fallen, however, was a surprise success, taking in $161 million worldwide against a significantly smaller budget than Emmerich’s pic. Now it’s the Gerard Butler film that has franchise potential, as the newly restructured Focus Features (which recently absorbed FilmDistrict) is moving forward with an Olympus Has Fallen sequel called London Has Fallen. Hit the jump for more, including which actors will be back.

Screen Daily reports that Millennium Films is producing and financing London Has Fallen, with Focus Features onboard to distribute the film in the U.S. Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, and Radha Mitchell will reprise their roles from the first film, with the story now revolving around a plot to strike London during the funeral of the British Prime Minister. It is unlikely that Antoine Fuqua will return to direct given that a May 2014 production start date for London Has Fallen is being eyed. Fuqua is currently busy with post-production on the Denzel Washington thriller The Equalizer, which opens next September.

While White House Down outgrossed Olympus Has Fallen in the global marketplace (it took in $204 million), the Sony pic carried much larger expectations given its pedigree and $150 million budget. Audiences instead sparked to the graphically violent Olympus Has Fallen (always with the knife-into-head move), and it’ll be interesting to see if the success can be repeated with London Has Fallen. Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger will return to pen the screenplay, and producers are currently out to directors.

FilmDrunk cracks me up. Look what they say about Gerry's production company name. I thought the EXACT SAME THIING! Hahahhaahaha.

http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2013/10/olympus-has-fallen-sequel-coming-gerard-butler

Avi “king of good ideas” Lerner planning Olympus Has Fallen sequel
Written by Vince Mancini / 10.29.13
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Starring Robocop riding a Channing Tatum Centaur. Come on, just say you’ll think about it.

I never saw Gerard Butler’s terrorists-take-down-the-White-House movie, Olympus Has Fallen, mainly because I was boycotting in favor of the Channing Tatum version, White House Down. White House Down eventually grossed more ($204.5m worldwide to $161), but it also cost twice as much. Now OHF producer Avi Lerner (he of The Expendabelles fame) is convinced there’s still some juice left in this concept, so he’s planning an OHF sequel set in London called “London Has Fallen.”

From Screendaily:

EXCLUSIVE: Nu Image will kick off talks on what is likely to become one of the must-haves of the market as Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman prepare to reprise their roles from the original action smash.

Millennium Films is producing and financing London Has Fallen and Alan Siegel and Gerard Butler’s G-Base will also produce.

That’s right, Gerard Butler has a production company called “G-Base.” What was the second choice, “Butler-Chugging?”

Shooting is scheduled to begin in London on May 5 2014 on the story of a plot to strike the city during the funeral of the British Prime Minister. Only the President Of The United States, his secret service head and an English MI6 agent can save the day. Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell also star.

So they basically took Olympus Has Fallen, added in London, and stole the part where the president kills bad guys from White House Down? Hmm. Steal the part where Channing Tatum talks to squirrels and you’ve got my money. There’s still a lot of meat left on that bone if you ask me.

By the way, Hollywood, if you want to use Burnsy’s White House Down storyboards, all we’d ask for is a couple million and a potato sack full of cocaine, Which it sounds like you’ve already been snorting.

First Showing article:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/gerard-butler-back-in-olympus-has-fallen-sequel-london-has-fallen/

Gerard Butler Back in 'Olympus Has Fallen' Sequel 'London Has Fallen'


Though Gerard Butler may not be back for glory in 300: Rise of an Empire, he will head into action sequel territory in a bit of a surprising follow-up. ScreenDaily has word from the American Film Market that Nu Image will be shopping around London Has Fallen, a sequel to this year's action thriller Olympus Has Fallen (just one of two films in 2013 where the White House being attacked served as the primary focus). Butler will also produce through his G-Base banner, and co-stars Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman will reprise their roles from the first film. And believe it or not, Focus Features will release the film since it's a FilmDistrict original, and all their titles fall under Focus starting next year. More below!

Shooting is expected to begin in May of 2014 with a story that follows a plot to strike London during the funeral of the British Prime Minister. This time it's up to Butler (now head of the secret service), along with the President of the United States (Eckhart), and an MI6 agent to stop the terrorist threat. Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell will also be back in the sequel with a script from the first film's writers Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger. This seems like a wholly unnecessary sequel, especially since the film only pulled in $161 million total on a budget of $70 million. But maybe moving the location across the pond will get international audiences more interested. Here's hoping they go for the gold and change the title to London Bridge Has Fallen Down. No? I'll go wait in the car.

I think Clive Owen should be the MI5 agent.  So many people get him confused with Gerry, it would be hilarious.  Or they should get an American to play the Brit.  It's only fair....

http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/movies/gerard-butler-london-has-fallen/77041?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Gerard Butler will Return To Kill Hordes Of Terrorists In LONDON HAS FALLEN

Olympus Has Fallen originally was the underdog film going into the battle of the White House action films this year. The R-rated film starring Gerard Butler took head-on PG-13 White House Down which starred Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. Olympus ended up winning overall and took a huge chuck out of the Summer box office. Earning around $161 million worldwide on a budget of $70 million. It’s an odd thing to see such success with an original action flick. The market is flooded with remakes, reboots and adaptations so having successful original film isn’t common these days. The film delivers more over-the-top action sequences you could ask for.

ScreenDaily reports Millennium Films (Expendables franchise) is eager to push forward with a sequel titled London Has Fallen. The film will see the return of Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell. Production on the sequel will begin in May 2014. However, the bad news is that Antoine Fuqua isn’t returning to direct. As producers are currently looking into finding a new director. My issue is that it’s visual and action scenes relied heavily on Fuqua’s directing. I’m curious who they’ll get to fill his shoes.

   “The story of a plot to strike the city during the funeral of the British Prime Minister. Only the President Of The United States, his secret service head and an English MI6 agent can save the day. “

Another  question is who will play that MI6 agent? Instead of the generic actors like Mark Strong or Jason Statham. I’d love to see some of the Strike Back actors take a crack at the role. Richard Armitage who led the first series was quite the badass. Leading to roles in big films such as Captain America: The First Avenger and The Hobbit Trilogy. Like Gerard Butler, Richard was linked for the new Bruce Wayne in Superman Vs Batman. Neither walked away with the role. I’d even enjoy seeing Richard taking on a villain role as well.

Sullivan Stapleton could knock it out of the park too. This Aussie recently was linked for both Guardians of The Galaxy and Star Wars: Episode VII. He’s also taken some interesting supporting roles in Australian films such as Animal Kingdom and The Hunter. Sullivan’s big Hollywood break might echo Gerard’s. As he’s the lead in 300: Rise of An Empire. Both these actors have serious action backgrounds and would make solid additions.

JJ finally joined the party and posted something:


http://www.justjared.com/2013/10/29/gerard-butler-reprising-role-for-london-has-fallen/


Gerard Butler: Reprising Role for 'London Has Fallen'!


Gerard Butler has signed on to reprise his role in the Olympus Has Fallen sequel London Has Fallen, according to THR!

The 43-year-old actor will be joined in the flick by Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman, who are also set to return.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Gerard Butler

In the sequel, “a U.S. Secret Service agent (Butler), the U.S. president (Eckhart) the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (Freeman) — are attending the funeral of the British prime minister.”

London has Fallon is expected to start shooting in May of 2014.

WHAT DO YOU THINK about Gerard Butler reprising his role for London Has Fallen?

Could be worse. G-String. G-Spot.

London? Might actually be good for GB immersing himself among Brits. Fix his accents.

LegoJulie wrote:

London? Might actually be good for GB immersing himself among Brits. Fix his accents.

Except he's supposed to be American in this movie. I think his American accent is painful enough. If he's in London and surrounded by UK accents and still trying to do an American accent in the film, his American accent could be even worse.

I do notice how when he's in the UK doing interviews and premieres his Scottish accent seems more uniform. I think his natural accent in RocknRolla wasn't as mishy mashed as the one in Playing The Field. I wonder if it is because RocknRolla was filmed in London and he was surrounded by British accents.

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/london-fallen-focus/


London Has Fallen' and So Has Focus
An unlikely sequel seems like it's a go


I guess the blurred "O" in the Focus Features logo is taking on a new meaning as the once independent arm of Universal Pictures has now merged with FilmDistrict and the newest project the studio will produce is London Has Fallen, a sequel to this year's Olympus Has Fallen with Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell set to star.

The plot, according to Screen Daily, will focus on a plot to strike London during the funeral for the British Prime Minister. Only the President of the United States (Eckhart), his secret service head (Butler) and an English MI6 agent can save the day.

Antoine Fuqua directed the first film, which grossed more than $161 million worldwide, seemingly stealing the thunder from Roland Emmerich's White House Down, which managed $204 million worldwide on a budget of $150 million. The budget here is the key here, of course, being the budget considering Olympus was made for $70 million. Nevertheless, that still doesn't make Olympus much of a success, but with a larger international focus for the sequel, it should mean bigger worldwide dollars.

Millennium Films is producing with a May 5, 2014 production start in London already slated. Focus will distribute domestically. As of now, however, a director has not yet been named, while Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger will again write the screenplay.

Just as interesting here, though, is this new direction for Focus, which will likely mean larger box office returns (or at least attempts for larger returns), but it hopefully doesn't mean the studio will stray from the more independent features it's become known for.

Being surrounded by British accents can be helpful. He can concentrate on his American accent and not get pulled in a hundred different directions by all the different American accents he hears. My accents get influenced by what I hear, so how I talk to Southerners or northerners or Asians are different. I can understand his speech getting skewed by people who talk to him. I don't understand his word chewing, though.

You may be right.  I wasn't thinking about it in that way.
But after living in the US for over a decade, you would think he could mimic the accent better.  Even just a generic one.  Californias have a generic American accent.  
When I was going to school in England, I could mimic a British accent pretty well while I was there because that is all I heard.  Now I couldn't do a good accent to save my life.  But it's not just the pronunciation, there is a different lilt to a British and Scottish accent and the sentences that they speak.  And even a different pitch.  It wasn't just that I could mimic the accent, I could mimic the way that the British speak the words.
Gerry's American accent is marred by not only his weird pronunciation, but by the lilt of the sentence.  Sometimes he pronounces words like an American but it has a Scottish lilt.  It drives me crazy.

Does anyone else notice that in old movies like One More Kiss Gerry spoke with a higher pitched voice as well as a thick Scottish accent?  The lower voice seems to have come with the ScottishAmerican accent that he now has.  Some I'm sure is with age, but he was around 30 in that film, not 21.  Americans seem to use more of the lower ranges compared to the British and their lilt.  I don't know if that makes any sense...

In any event, I still don't expect his accent to be better in this sequel, but I could be completely wrong.  The word chewing is always there, and his American accent seems to accentuate it.  
Drives. Me. Crazy.

Ugh.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Olympus-Has-Fallen-Sequel-Burn-London-Ground-40078.html

Olympus Has Fallen Sequel Will Burn London To The Ground

Olympus Has Fallen essentially was a new take on the Die Hard formula, so it only makes sense that the movie would earn a sequel.

ScreenDaily reports that Nu Image will "kick off talks" on London Has Fallen, a continuation of the story of a beleaguered President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) and his tough-as-nails personal guard, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler). The site reports that Eckhart, Butler and Morgan Freeman are expected to reprise their roles, alongside Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell. Original director Antoine Fuqua (Shooter) is not being mentioned with regards to the sequel, though, and ScreenDaily says the producers "are out to directors."

That makes me wonder if Fuqua passed, because when a film performs well at the box office (and Olympus did), the director usually gets the chance to return and build on what he or she has started. Fuqua is in post-production on The Equalizer with Denzel Washington, Chloe Moretz and Melissa Leo, but easily could slide back into the director’s chair for an Olympus sequel if he wanted him to. It sounds, in this report, like the producers want to go in a different direction.



The sequel reportedly will go into production in London on May 5, 2014. The plot will follow, according to the site, "a plot to strike the city [of London] during the funeral of the British Prime Minister. Only the President Of The United States, his secret service head and an English MI6 agent can save the day."

News of an Olympus sequel woke Twitter out of its slumber, and triggered the snark … particularly from supporters of White House Down, which arrived in theaters a few months after Olympus Has Fallen and was significantly less successful at the American box office. Our own Katey Rich lamented:

kateyrich @kateyrich
It is a cruel, cruel world that gives us an Olympus Has Fallen sequel while White House Down languishes, tragically under-appreciated.

The jokes just kept on coming.

Chris Hewitt @ChrisHewitt
The Olympus Has Fallen sequel will be called London Has Fallen. It's only a matter of seconds before Buckingham Palace Down is announced.

Sgt Mike Battle @sgtmikebattle
I'm delighted about the sequel to OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, which was the most authentic, accurate and believable movie ever!!!!



But the winner of the day clearly was:

Daniel Fienberg @HitFixDaniel The "Olympus Has Fallen" and "White House Down" folks should *team up* on "London Bridge Has Fallen Down."

I preferred White House Down, which was fun in the places where Olympus was dark, violent and uber-serious. We know the producers can create carnage. Will London Has Fallen lighten things up, or continue punishing audiences (and potentially breaking the bank)?

Americans speak with a lower pitch overall. When I listen to Asian visitors and movies their pitches are easily an octave above Americans'. I've had visitors remark about how low our speaking voices are here. Non-American English speakers do have more lilt or lift to their speech patterns.

Seems like GB squeezes or clenches his cheeks in a lot when he speaks. Maybe relaxing or pushing his cheek muscles away from his teeth would lessen the chewing. But I'm no speech therapist.

I know why they want to make this movie. The actors got really sick and tired of summer in Louisiana they want to cool off in foggy London. Instead of hot and humid they'll be cold and humid.