Gerard Butler Eyes Babak Najafi As ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ Sequel Helmer

http://deadline.com/2014/09/gerard-butler-olympus-has-fallen-sequel-babak-najafi-842692/

Gerard Butler Eyes Babak Najafi As ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ Sequel Helmer

by Mike Fleming Jr
September 28, 2014 1:34pm


EXCLUSIVE: Looks like Gerard Butler won’t be alone for London Is Falling, the Millennium Films sequel to the action hit Olympus Has Fallen. Babak Najafi, best known for helming Easy Money II: Hard to Kill (better known as the sequel to Snabba Cash) is now in discussions to helm the action film that is being transplanted to the Blighty.


This has been a hot open assignment since Charlie Countryman helmer Fredrik Bond bristled at the scale of the movie and exited. He got the job after the helmer of the original, Antoine Fuqua, didn’t like the sequel direction and decided not to take part.

Several up and comers went after the job, and were rumored to be getting on a plane and heading to meet Butler. One was Wayne Blair, helmer of The Sapphires. Now, I’m told that the job will belong to Najafi if his reps at UTA

Najafi made his directorial debut with Sebbe, which won Best Debut Film at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2010. He has also directed episodes of Banshee. The original grossed $99 million domestic, and $161 million worldwide. Setting the action in an international front could improve the latter number.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/troubled-olympus-has-fallen-sequel-736224?utm_source=twitter


Troubled 'Olympus Has Fallen' Sequel Finds Director
3:49 PM PDT 9/28/2014 by Borys Kit

Swedish director Babak Najafi is coming in to save the day

Olympus Has Fallen sequel London Has Fallen has a director.

Scandinavian helmer Babak Najafi, who directed the Snabba cash sequel Easy Money II: Hard to Kill is in talks to replace Fredrik Bond on the Millennium action movie.

Bond left over a week ago with the movie weeks away from shooting.

Millennium and star Gerard Butler immediately scrambled but last week, things were not looking good. Butler was not liking the directing prospects, and some sources say he was even mulling the idea of leaving the project.

Najafi, Wayne Blair (The Sapphires) and Gary Fleder (Runaway Jury) were names that surfaced by mid-week, with Najafi pulling ahead into dealmaking mode.

If a deal makes, Najafi will jump into a shoot that will be in two parts: London will lense for four weeks with principals Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett and Melissa Leo.

The production will then pause before picking up again in February, this time with Butler, and shoot until April. The two-phase shoot is to accommodate the actor, who is currently filming Geostorm for Warner Bros. and Skydance.

Najafi directed a couple of episodes of Cinemax series Banshee but London will be his English-language feature debut. He is repped by UTA and Magnolia Entertainment.

http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/gerard-butlers-london-has-fallen-finds-a-replacement-director-899?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter


Gerard Butler's London Has Fallen finds a replacement director
Sep. 29, 2014by: Alex Maidy


Eleven days ago, LONDON HAS FALLEN lost their director just six weeks before filming was set to begin. After an 11 day search, it looks like they have found their replacement. While CHARLIE COUNTRYMAN director Fredrik Bond seemed like an inspired choice to take over the sequel to Antoine Fuqua's OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, the sequel will now likely be helmed by another distinct filmmaker.

Deadline is reporting that Millennium Films is close to signing Babak Najafi to helm LONDON HAS FALLEN. Najafi is best known for directing the sequel to SNABBA CASH and episodes of the Cinemax series BANSHEE. Other filmmakers on the shortlist were THE SAPPHIRES director Wayne Blair. Fuqua decided not to helm the sequel for creative reasons and it seems Fredrik Bond left for similar reasons.

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN was a fun little movie but by no means a memorable movie. Yeah, it was better than Roland Emmerich's WHITE HOUSE DOWN, but that isn't saying much. LONDON HAS FALLEN will reunite Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, and Melissa Leo. Hopefully this carousel of directors doesn't affect the finished product.

LONDON HAS FALLEN is slated to hit theaters on October 2, 2015.