Filming Begins on LONDON HAS FALLEN Starring Gerard Butler; First Synopsis Revealed

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Filming Begins on LONDON HAS FALLEN Starring Gerard Butler; First Synopsis Revealed

I’m still bitter that when it came to last year’s “Battle of the Die Hard-in-the-White House” movies, the crown went to Olympus Has Fallen over the vastly superior White House Down. But so it goes, and we will be treated to yet another installment of Gerard Butler‘s Secret Service Agent Mike Banning taking down baddies. Millennium Films has sent out a press release announcing that filming has commenced on London Has Fallen, which sees Banning accompanying the U.S. President (Aaron Eckhart) and Speaker of the House (Morgan Freeman) to attend the funeral of the British prime minister. The press release also includes the first official plot synopsis, and this is my favorite part: “a deadly plot to kill the world’s most powerful leaders, devastate every known landmark in the British capital, and unleash a terrifying vision of the future.” All those unknown landmarks? Totally safe.

Hit the jump for the press release. The film opens October 2, 2015, and also stars Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Sean O’Bryan, Radha Mitchell, Jackie Earle Haley, Alon Aboutboul, Charlotte Riley, and Waleed Zuaiter.

Here’s the press release:

“LONDON HAS FALLEN” BEGINS FILMING

GERARD BUTLER, AARON ECKHART, MORGAN FREEMAN, ANGELA BASSETT, MELISSA LEO REPRISE STARRING ROLES

LONDON - Principal photography has begun on Millennium Films’ and Focus Features’ London Has Fallen, the sequel to the worldwide smash hit “Olympus Has Fallen.”

Gerard Butler again stars as Secret Service agent Mike Banning, alongside Aaron Eckhart as the President of the United States. Also returning are Academy Award® winner Morgan Freeman, as Vice President Trumbull, Academy Award® nominee Angela Bassett, as Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs, and Academy Award® winner Melissa Leo as Defense Secretary Ruth McMillan.

Babak Najafi (“Snabba Cash II”) directs the thriller from a screenplay by Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt (“Olympus Has Fallen”), Christian Gudegast and Chad St. John.

The story begins in London, where the British Prime Minister has passed away under mysterious circumstances. His funeral is a must-attend event for leaders of the western world. However, what starts out as the most protected event on Earth turns into a deadly plot to kill the world’s most powerful leaders, devastate every known landmark in the British capital, and unleash a terrifying vision of the future. Only three people have any hope of stopping it: the President of the United States, his formidable Secret Service head (Gerard Butler), and an English MI-6 agent who rightly trusts no one.

Reprising their roles in support are Academy Award® nominee Robert Forster as General Edward Clegg, Sean O’Bryan as NSA Deputy Director Ray Monroe, and Radha Mitchell as Leah Banning. Joining the returning cast members are Academy Award® nominee Jackie Earle Haley, Alon Aboutboul (“The Dark Knight Rises”), Charlotte Riley, and Waleed Zuaiter (from the Academy Award® nominated film “Omar”).



London Has Fallen is being produced by Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, John Thompson, Les Weldon, and Mark Gill.

The executive producers are Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Peter Schlessel, Matt O’Toole, Boaz Davidson, Heidi Jo Markel, Christine Crow, Zygi Kamasa and Guy Avshalom. Lonnie Ramati is co-executive producer. Peter Heslop is co-producer.

Mr. Najafi’s creative team includes production designer Joel Collins (“Autobahn,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”), costume designer Stephanie Collie (“Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Layer Cake”), and cinematographer Ed Wild (“Autobahn”). Casting is by Elaine Grainger.

Focus Features will release London Has Fallen theatrically nationwide on October 2nd, 2015.