Even though he launched legal action against the production companies behind Olympus Has Fallen, Gerard Butler’s recent increase in enthusiasm for multi-film franchises hasn’t been dampened in the slightest.
Not including archival footage of the actor’s Leonidas from 300: Rise of an Empire, Mike Banning is currently the only role Butler has played more than once other than his voice performances as How to Train Your Dragon‘s Stoick the Vast, with his fourth outing in Night Has Fallen expected to begin production before the end of next year.
However, he’s also confirmed that a Den of Thieves sequel shoots in the next few months, with Greenland: Migration also selling for big money at Cannes. That doesn’t mean he’s abandoning the one-and-done efforts forever, though, with Copshop having released last month, while his next effort The Plane has just called it a wrap in Puerto Rico as per Deadline.
The grizzled action hero stars as Ray Torrance, a commercial airline pilot who lands a damaged plane in enemy territory, where he’s soon surrounded by pirates planning to take the craft and its passengers hostage, forcing him to take action and keep everyone alive until help arrives. That sounds right up Butler’s street, and it’ll continue to solidify his status as the genre’s mid budget leading light.