Despite the film’s release having just been pushed back to early next year, Empire has snagged our first look at Gerard Butler’s Secret Service agent Mike Banning kicking ass in London Has Fallen. Check out the smackdown being deployed at the Charing Cross tube station in the gallery below!
It’s a fun franchise,†enthused Butler. “You get to do a lot of really badass action, but it’s got its tongue firmly in its cheek.â€
The sequel to 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen again stars Butler alongside Aaron Eckhart as the President of the United States. Also returning are Morgan Freeman as Vice President Trumbull, Angela Bassett as Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs, and 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 (Butler), and an English MI-6 agent who rightly trusts no one.
Reprising their roles in support are 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 Jackie Earle Haley, Alon Aboutboul, Charlotte Riley, and Waleed Zuaiter.
Gramercy Pictures will release London Has Fallen theatrically nationwide on January 22, 2016.