Ever since the Has Fallen film series wrapped up in 2019 with Ric Roman Waugh’s Angel Has Fallen, it seems Gerard Butler has hopped between campy action thrillers in a bid to recapture some of that intentionally over-the-top glory. 2020’s Greenland fell flat, as did Joe Carnahan’s reasonably entertaining Copshop, but that clearly hasn’t pushed Butler away from the genre given he takes the lead in Jean-Francois Richet’s forthcoming Plane which, from a newly released trailer, actually looks like it could be a win for the 53-year-old actor.
The modestly-titled Plane, written by Charles Cumming, a British spy novelist, and J. P. Davis, doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to its outrageous storyline.
Butler plays the role of commercial pilot Brodie Torrance whose flight is carrying Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), a man being extradited on charges of homicide. After the aircraft is damaged during a storm, Torrance is forced to make an emergency landing on Jolo, a hostile island in the Philippines overrun by anti-government militia, one of which takes the majority of the crew and passengers of the flight hostage.
Brodie must free Louis and team up with him in order to save everyone and escape the island.
There’s much in way of creativity here, but as you can see from the final Plane trailer above, Butler seems to be in fine form as he sinks into the lead role along with co-stars Yoson-An (Mulan), Colter (Luke Cage) and Tony Goldwyn (Oppenheimer).
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Daniella Pineda, Paul Ben-Victor, Remi Adeleke, Joey Slotnick, Evan Dane Taylor, and Claro de los Reyes round out the cast in supporting roles. Butler serves as producer, alongside Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian, Marc Butan, and Alan Siegel.
The project has apparently been shopped around since 2016, shelved for three years before it was acquired by Lionsgate Films in 2019 only to be sold a year later to Solstice Studios. Lionsgate re-acquired the rights to shoot Plane in 2021 and the film was shot on location in Puerto Rico.
Whether or not this will help reaffirm Butler as one of Hollywood’s most reliable modern action stars remains to be seen. There isn’t much in the way of a storyline, which from the trailer seems to play out exactly as you’d expect, but the big action beats look thick and well-staged, which might help Plane satisfy enough to be the first big popcorn flick of 2023.
Plane is locked in for a theatrical release on January 13, 2023.
