Gerard Butler London Has Fallen

Cast: Morgan Freeman, Gerard Butler, Radha Mitchell, Aaron Eckhart
Director: Babak Najafi
Genre: Theatre, Thriller
Rated: MA
Running Time: 98 minutes

Synopsis: Gerard Butler returns as Secret Service Agent Mike Banning in London Has Fallen, the high-octane sequel to the box office smash hit Olympus Has Fallen. Also returning in starring roles for the non-stop, suspenseful action thriller are Aaron Eckhart as U.S. President Benjamin Asher and Morgan Freeman as Allan Trumbull, now the Vice President.

A lavish wedding party gets underway in Lahore, Pakistan. But the father of this bride is Aamir Barkawi (Alon Moni Aboutboul), a lethal arms dealer and one of the most wanted men in the world. A drone strike swiftly kills members of the wedding – including Barkawi's daughter – but he escapes serious injury, and he and his sons vow vengeance.

Two years later in Washington, D.C., Mike Banning and his wife Leah (Radha Mitchell), their marriage stronger than ever, eagerly await the imminent arrival of their first child. Having remained the Secret Service Agent assigned to Asher, Banning is always on alert. When the British Prime Minster dies unexpectedly, Banning knows it is his duty to prep with Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs (Angela Bassett) for them to accompany the President to the state funeral at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

With every powerful world leader set to attend, the funeral should be the most protected event on Earth. Yet within moments of arriving, heads of government are assassinated and London landmarks are attacked. Asher, Banning, and Jacobs are ambushed and retreat amidst a hail of gunfire and explosives. The devastated British capital goes into lockdown. London police and armed forces realize that they have been compromised, with all communications being intercepted. Tasked by Jacobs with keeping Asher safe, Banning must go off the grid and under the radar to stay one step ahead of what he learns are relentless operatives deployed by Barkawi, who have infiltrated the city through the careful plotting of Barkawi and his son Kamran (Waleed F. Zuaiter). But the Barkawis have not counted on the resilience of their quarry. When they tip their hands to the shocking plans they have for the President, Banning will stop at nothing to secure Asher's safe return home.

Back at the White House, Vice President Trumbull races against time brainstorming with top advisors in the Situation Room (portrayed by Jackie Earle Haley and Olympus Has Fallen veterans Robert Forster, Melissa Leo, and Sean O'Bryan) to get those trapped in London a lifeline of support and a way out. Outnumbered and outgunned, Banning reaches out for help to an English MI6 agent (Charlotte Riley) who rightly trusts no one. Failure is not an option as they attempt to stop the criminals from carrying out the final phase of their revenge plan.

London Has Fallen
Release Date: March 17th, 2016

About The Production

How do you follow up Olympus Has Fallen, one of the biggest surprise hits of 2013? By reuniting the principal cast and key members of the creative team for a new adventure that relocates the action from the U.S. to abroad – where the character of heroic Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (again played by actor and producer Gerard Butler) no longer has the advantage of knowing the territory.

London Has Fallen picks up the characters a couple of years after Olympus Has Fallen had left off. U.S. President Benjamin Asher is in his second term, and Mike remains the Agent assigned to protect him.

Producer Les Weldon comments that the loyalty between the two lead characters is an essential component that has been established because of 'the chemistry between Aaron and Gerry. In the first film, audiences only got a taste of it. In London Has Fallen, they had been through a lot before but now are going through an extreme situation together and we see more of their interactions: moments of weakness and fragility, and how they have to support each other to push through and survive. We are very confident in the type of action that we can deliver, but there has to be heart; the audience should be able to make a connection with the characters, based on what's put forth by the actors beginning with Gerry and Aaron.

'To make the sequel, we had to take a step back because we didn't want to just do the same thing again. The idea was to open it up, since the first movie was focused in and around the White House. We wanted to increase the scope of a second movie to make it a bigger experience for the audience."

The screenwriting team of Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt, who had written the original screenplay for Olympus Has Fallen, conceived a new story and first worked on the script, with writers Christian Gudegast and Chad St. John then working on the script. Weldon remarks, 'We all felt there should be a progression of the main characters; in a lot of sequels, with the characters in the first film established they then carry on to the second one and nothing changes. We've seized the opportunity to expand their stories: the Bannings are starting a family, Trumbull is now the Vice President, and Asher has this bond with Banning based on what they went through in the first movie.

'Bringing Banning and Asher together for a journey was what we knew the audience would be excited to see. This concept opened up our story's parameters – literally. Our director Babak Najafi worked closely with every actor to improve their character's arc, which invites the audience to identify with them. The core of London Has Fallen is the characters, especially the ones moviegoers loved and wanted to see again."

Gerard Butler's producing partner Alan Siegel concurs, noting that 'Gerard Butler created such a great movie hero with his performance as Mike Banning that people were eager to see him again, in another harrowing situation. Banning is cool, he's smart, he has a great sense of humor – and he values his wife and his President. He and the President have a close relationship, one that is symbiotic.

'Gerard Butler has natural presence, but the best thing about him is his work ethic. I have never met anyone work so hard for not his ego but rather for what is best for the movie. That's why he has become a producer and that's how we've managed to produce seven movies together. He will make an amazing director one day because he is so attentive to detail."

Aaron Eckhart, who reprises his role as Asher, states, 'All the action and the attitude that people loved in Olympus Has Fallen comes through again. Audiences expect as much from Gerry [as Banning], and he's really into it!

'Because the new movie is set in Europe, Babak Najafi was an excellent choice to direct. He had great ideas for what he wanted this movie to be."

Angela Bassett, encoring as Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs, found Najafi 'to have an understanding of the importance of gathering a great team around the director. There is a lot of mayhem in this movie, but Babak Najafi never loses sight of the humanity of the individuals and the families that matter to them."

Angela Bassett also feels that 'what really resonated with moviegoers and made the first film a huge success was the ideal of good overcoming evil, of one man saving the day. We wanted to recapture that. The stakes are even higher in London Has Fallen.

'Banning and Lynne remain not only colleagues but also confidants. They talk, they share, and she understands him more than most people. He is able to open up to her."

Reteamed with the lead actors, Angela Bassett praises 'Gerard Butler's everyman quality. You want to see him win. Gerard Butler has a great, very wry sense of humor and he brings that into the make-up of the Banning character. He is the guy all guys want to be, and of course the girls like him rather a lot too. As the President, Aaron Eckhart complements Gerard Butler because he has a cowboy quality, strong and masculine; you know that if called upon, he will hold his own. Maybe it has something to do with that jawline and the cleft in his chin…

'Morgan Freeman's authority and gravitas add weight to the issues he addresses, but he also has a sense of humor. He is an absolute natural to play Trumbull, now as a Vice President."

Freeman clarifies, 'Since Olympus Has Fallen, when Trumbull was Speaker of the House, the Vice President has died. So it's a move up to Vice President for him, and when the stuff hits the fan in London, it's Trumbull who has to make the key decisions."
The legendary actor reconnected with colleagues from the first movie. He says, 'Gerard Butler is so engaging, and a real tough guy – which is what a film like this really thrives on. I hadn't met Jackie Earle Haley [who plays Deputy Chief Mason] before, but I have seen so much of his work it was almost like I knew him. When you get good actors together, we sit down and discuss how we want the scene to move along. With Babak Najafi, we were able to have a lot of input. He's quick and decisive, which means he knows what he wants and he knows when he has got it."

Another returning actor whose character sees a change of situation in the new movie is Radha Mitchell as Leah Banning, Mike Banning's wife. Radha Mitchell reveals, 'I was very excited when I read the script because Leah is pregnant in the story. The couple now has the opportunity to imagine how they are going to be as parents, and that is how the story begins; they are nesting and getting excited about the new arrival. Then Banning gets the call asking him to accompany the President to London.

'The real-life people who have these jobs, guarding the President and being in these high-stress situations, are risking their lives for their country. It's interesting to consider who these people are when they are at home, and what their domestic situation is. That's what we get to explore in the scenes between Banning and Leah. Banning has a lot of stress, but Leah carries the burden as well. You can see there is a team effort behind the hero."

Radha Mitchell elaborates, 'Banning now has an extra dimension because of this huge responsibility at home that he didn't have before. He is coming to terms with that while still pushing boundaries and constantly risking his life, but it expands the character: can he still do this job and be a dad? After all, he could die at any time. Babak brings human perspective into the story, finding the emotion in these characters.

'Gerry Butler has a natural propensity to be the action hero; he has a sense of what it takes. You saw it on-screen in the first movie, and now London Has Fallen takes it to the next level."

Waleed Zuaiter takes on the role of Kamran, the eldest of the Barkawi siblings and Banning's nemesis in London Has Fallen. But, as Zuaiter points out, 'the opening scenes of Kamran and his family at the wedding; you see the humanity, and then you see it taken away very quickly.

'Babak Najafi fought for the specific actors in the roles of the family members. He saw certain energies and qualities in each of us; we truly felt like a family even though the actors came from all over the place. There is no mother in the equation, so one take on it – which I like – is that the siblings could be adopted children. The relationship that my character has with his father [Aamir, played by Alon Moni Aboutboul] is one a lot of people will be able to relate to; Kamran is the eldest son, with a lot of responsibility, and at the same time he doesn't feel accepted by his father so there is a sense of him trying to gain approval."

Zuaiter also enjoyed playing scenes opposite Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart. He remarks, 'Gerard Butler is good at wearing both the producer hat and the actor hat; he can seamlessly switch between the two, which I found very impressive. As an actor, he has such great presence. Aaron Eckhart has a quiet intensity that makes you, as a viewer, curious to know what is going on in his mind. When Kamran faces off with the President, there are two men with a shared history of loss confronting each other.

'I learned a great deal from Babak Najafi. He spends a lot of time thinking about the action and thriller aspects but is, above all else, concerned with deeply rooting London Has Fallen in the characters. I sensed he'd be bringing an artistic element into the movie whilst still keeping within the genre of a top-notch action thriller." Melissa Leo adds, 'Babak Najafi is fearless at figuring out how to shoot complicated scenes – like when a lot of us are in the White House Situation Room at once, reacting to what's going on in London."

Melissa Leo, reprising her Olympus Has Fallen role of Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan, 'wasn't surprised at all by the success of the first movie; Gerry Butler makes for a great hero. For me, to be able to spend time working with Morgan Freeman and Robert Forster – actors I've watched all my life – was a joy and a pleasure, so it was wonderful to get to do that again."

New to the Situation Room is Jackie Earle Haley, playing the President's chief of staff, Deputy Chief Mason. Haley was made to feel welcome by the Room's returning actors. He offers, 'Melissa Leo is committed and passionate actress, and Robert Forster is just wonderful. I got a kick out of Sean O'Bryan; he's a real funny guy. Then there is Morgan Freeman; I have worked with a lot of movie stars but there is something special about Morgan. He immediately puts everyone at ease in the room.

'Babak Najafi knows what he wants; in our Situation Room scenes, there are cool crane and dolly shots, camerawork that keeps the room alive and moving. You can definitely feel the tension as our characters work to secure the President's safe return."

Alon Moni Aboutboul, who plays Aamir Barkawi, muses that 'although my character is a criminal, he sees himself very much as a businessman. When his daughter's wedding ends in tragedy, he takes the whole family on a journey to inflict a devastating strike on London and at all the leaders of the West. I feel that the mixture of an action thriller with a very personal motivation creates an interesting dynamic. 'That's evident in Gerard Butler's character too; Gerard Butler brings a combination of vulnerability, ferocity, and humanity. Babak Najafi worked with us on adding layers with the human sides of the story, as you'll see with the casting of the Barkawi family."

Befitting the story's bigger picture and international scope, production on London Has Fallen would by necessity span the globe.

India welcomed cast and crew to Jaipur in Rajasthan for filming of the Pakistan-set Barkawi family wedding. The production filmed for three days at Meghniwas Palace, a family home in 'the Pink City."

Bulgaria's Nu Boyana Studios, the largest film production services studio in Eastern Europe, is now co-owned by Millennium Films. Situated in Sofia, Nu Boyana offered the London Has Fallen team both exterior spaces and soundstages. The Studios' backlot accommodated no less than a built-to-scale replication of London's magisterial St Paul's Cathedral, where the British Prime Minister's funeral is being held.

Within Nu Boyana, roads were transformed into the U.K.'s Mayfair, East London, and Soho, where the action spills into the streets. Air Force One was built on Stage 1, while Kamran Barkawi's concrete hideout 'The Hive" was built on Stage 11. Finally, Stage 12 was home to the interior of the Oval Office, where the President first learns of the Prime Minister's untimely death; and also home to the MI6 Safe House. 'The Bulgarian crews are world-class when it comes to sculpting, carpentry and construction. Their workmanship and attention to detail is impeccable," states Weldon.
The U.K.'s world-renowned Pinewood Studios was used as the unit production base for the British leg of the shoot. Pinewood's L Stage was made over by production designer Joel Collins' team into the interior of the White House Situation Room, wherein Vice President Trumbull mobilizes top advisors.

Washington, D.C. was also re-created in the U.K. for the scene in which Banning accompanies Asher on a jog through a local park; London's Battersea Park, full of nature and wildlife, is in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by English Heritage.

Further U.K. location shooting included several locales standing in for spots elsewhere in England. The crash site for the helicopter Marine One, doubling for Hyde Park, is the Harvey Family's Langley Park; just a short drive from Pinewood, Langley has stood for over 800 years and offers filmmakers – and the public – a beautifully rich and varied environment.

Similarly, Surrey airfield Dunsfold Aerodrome doubled for London's Stansted Airport, where Banning, Jacobs, and Asher arrive in the U.K.; Dunsfold was built by Canadian Army soldiers and civilian contractors as a Class A bomber airfield during World War II, and has more recently been home to several other major movies as well as the BBC motoring show Top Gear.

The U.S. contingent's calm arrival, and subsequent desperate departure, by helicopter were shot at Somerset House, in the courtyard of the iconic London building – home to London Fashion Week – that sits between the Strand and the River Thames. Aaron Eckhart remarks, 'London is a spectacular and beautiful city to make a movie in."

London Has Fallen
Release Date: March 17th, 2016