Gerard Butler’s upcoming movie Empire City isn’t a video game adaptation, but it sure sounds like it could be, judging from the description of it. That description is also giving off serious Die Hard vibes. Not much is known about the film, other than some of the cast, including MCU movie vet Hayley Atwell, and that production is currently underway. Still, as a child of the ‘80s, this one has my attention. Let me explain why.

It’s Not Set In The ‘80s Or Anything, But…

As a child of the ‘80s, Die Hard is one of my all-time favorite movies. It’s not just one of the best action movies of all time in my book; it’s one of the best, full stop. It’s a total remote-dropper that I can watch pretty much any time, anywhere. So when I read the description of the movie on IMDB, I was instantly intrigued:

Sure, it’s New York, not LA, and Butler plays a New York firefighter, not a New York cop, but you can’t tell me that doesn’t remind you of the classic Bruce Willis flick.

It also sounds like a classic ‘80s video scenario, too. In the days before open worlds and online gaming, video games like Super Mario Bros. and Metroid featured gameplay where you worked your way from one level to the next, just like ascending a building floor by floor. This combination of style, similar to old video games and Die Hard, is just too much to resist for this ‘80s kid. I like it even more because while it seemingly harkens back to those days, it’s not a straight nostalgia play, which I’m already sick of. No offense, Stranger Things.

Butler Makes Fun Movies

Say what you want about Gerald Butler movies, but one thing he consistently does well is make them fun. Sure, they can be cheesy at times, and sometimes his muscly physique can seem cartoonish (especially in a movie based on a graphic novel like 300), but his movies are always a popcorn-chomping good time. Butler’s movies are often what the old podcast Friendly Fire used to call “pork chop movies,” because they are the kind of movie you watch when your wife is out with her friends and you’re left home alone, cooking up a pork chop and watching action movies.

Plus, the ‘80s action stars I grew up on, like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, were all muscular heroes, so Butler (and his physique) are perfect for making a movie with that kind of vibe. A world-weary firefighter alongside his cop wife (Atwell) sounds exactly like what I need.

So, whether Empire City is released in theaters or straight to streaming, I’ll be ready with my pork chop to dive in and watch Butler work his way to the top of the building, or the last level, if you will. Hopefully, there will be a worthy Final Boss at the end, too.

Back in 2020, Gerard Butler starred in Greenland, one of many crazy disaster movies to prepare us for end times, and now he’s back to show us what happens next. The sequel Greenland 2: Migration continues the story of John Garrity, his wife Allison and their son Nathan five years after the events of the first movie, in which a large comet crashed into Earth. Critics have seen the flick ahead of its release to the 2026 movie calendar, and they’re split over its success.

In addition to Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin returns to the upcoming action movie as Allison, and Roman Griffin Davis replaces Roger Dale Floyd as Nathan, as the Garritys are forced to leave the Greenland bunker and attempt to start a new life amongst what’s left of Earth. Liz Declan of ScreenRant gives it an 8 out of 10, saying Greenland 2: Migration tackles topics this genre often skips over — the disaster's aftermath — and proves that story can be as exciting as the tragedy that came before. The critic says:

Chris Evangelista of SlashFilm rates the movie 7 out of 10, saying that while it still feels like a “silly disaster pic” at some points, Greenland 2: Migration stands out because it’s less interested in grand spectacle and more in the psychological toll of everyday people just trying to make it through another day. Evangelista writes:

William Bibbiani of The Wrap says Greenland 2: Migration is an above-average sequel to 2020’s above-average sleeper, with plenty of exciting set pieces. However, some of the despair that made the original such a gut punch is missing from the follow-up. Bibbiani says:

David Ehrlich of IndieWire calls the movie a “timely but tedious” sequel, saying it’s far more generic and action-oriented than its predecessor, which makes it lose sight of the human reaction that gave Greenland its friction. Ehrlich gives Migration a C and writes:

Josh Parham of Next Best Picture rates it just 4 out of 10, writing that while there are some decent thrills, most of the movie is “blandly shot and executed,” with shallow characters that don’t earn our emotional investment. Parham continues:

Unfortunately, the critics don’t agree on this one, but it could be worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of the first movie, which is considered one of the best movies streaming on HBO Max right now.

If you haven’t seen Greenland, it’s available to stream with an HBO Max subscription, which might help you decide if you want to invest more time into the Garritys' perilous quest for survival when Greenland 2: Migration hits theaters on Friday, January 9.

It has been a little more than five years since Greenland hit the big screen and defied the odds by becoming a sizable hit despite being a disaster movie released in the middle of a pandemic. The riveting end-of-the-world thriller following Gerard Butler’s John Garrity and family as they attempt to reach an underground bunker has a new sequel Greenland 2: Migration on the way, and its director is still amazed people came out the first time around.

Ahead of Greenland 2: Migration’s debut on the 2026 movie schedule, I caught up with director Ric Roman Waugh and asked him what was going through his head five years ago when he had to release a disaster movie in the middle of the biggest public health crisis in a century: the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m not going to lie, his first response caught me off guard:

Making Greenland before the pandemic forever changed life as we know it, Waugh was worried about audiences buying into a more grounded and less sensationalized disaster movie about a family trying to survive. However, he had a new worry when COVID broke out months before the film’s release:

Greenland would go on to be a hit with critics and audiences during the pandemic, bringing in $52.3 million on the international market, per Box Office Mojo, despite never showing on the big screen here in the States. However, IndieWire reported back in early 2021 that the movie made around $32 million from PVOD rentals.

It will be a different story for Greenland 2: Migration, as the highly anticipated action drama will be showing on screens around the world, including here in America. The movie follows the Garrity family (played by Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, and Roman Griffin Davis) as they attempt to leave the bunker they fought so hard to reach five years ago in search of a better tomorrow.

When teasing the sequel, Waugh explained that this focus on the Garrity family throughout the first film will continue here, as will the human aspect of the disaster film genre:

And the Garrity family does just that in Greenland 2: Migration. Without giving too much away, the family, which is tighter than ever before, sets off into a dangerous and unknown world in search of a better life and a new tomorrow. Will they find it? You’ll have to wait and see.

Greenland 2: Migration opens in theaters this weekend, but you can go back and watch the first film with an HBO Max subscription, where it is currently one of the most popular movies.

It’s the start of a new year, and that means it’s time to kick off the 2026 movie schedule. Though there are still some holdovers from the 2025 movie calendar I plan on checking out this month, I’m more excited about two upcoming action movies I’ve been following for way too long. Seriously, I’m all kinds of jazzed up for Gerard Butler’s Greenland 2: Migration and Jason Statham’s Shelter, and it’s getting ridiculous.

As you can imagine, for someone who loves watching movies to keep warm in the colder months, I’m going to be spending a lot of time with these two action stars (and kings of the January box office). That said, I’ve been thinking about who will come out on top. Will it be Butler in his disaster film sequel or Statham in his latest action thriller? Let’s talk it out…

Gerard Butler Has Greenland 2: Migration Opening In Early January

On January 9, Gerard Butler will reprise his role as John Garrity in Greenland 2: Migration, the long-in-the-works sequel to one of the biggest box office surprises of 2020. This movie, which takes place five years after Garrity led his family – Allison (Morena Baccarin) and Nathan (now played by Roman Griffin Davis) – to safety in a bunker deep beneath the mountainous terrain of Greenland, will see the trio attempt to find a better and more sustainable future in Europe.

Though January is typically a pretty chilly month at the box office, Butler has found a great deal of success over the years. Den of Thieves (as well as its sequel) and Plane have both become hits for the actor, and there’s no reason to think Greenland 2 will be any different. There is some competition during the film’s opening weekend, but I see this rising to the top.

Jason Statham Has Shelter Coming Out To Close The Month

On January 30, Jason Statham will kick off what could become another action franchise for himself when he stars in Shelter. As has been the case in the past, Statham will take on the role of a former assassin who is forced to go to great lengths to save a young girl from a dangerous organization he used to call home. It looks dramatic, thrilling, and action-packed, and it’s definitely something I plan on seeing on the big screen this month.

Statham has also had some success in the first month of the year, as his 2024 action thriller, The Beekeeper, mopped the floor with the competition when it opened a couple of years back. I don’t know if Shelter will reach those heights or not, but I suspect audiences will come out for some more action this January.

Regardless of the outcome this month, there are two people who will be winning no matter what. First, there’s director Ric Roman Waugh, who helmed both Greenland 2: Migration and Shelter, which is wild to think about. And then there are people like me who can’t get enough of these types of movies. It’s going to be a good time, that’s for sure…

After the live-action How To Train Your Dragon was one of the biggest 2025 movies, I’m starting to look forward to the sequel that was announced back in April. In anticipation, I decided to rewatch 2014’s How To Train Your Dragon 2 for the first time in many years, and man, I didn’t see one major plot point coming. I want to talk about it, and why it has me realizing I need to bring tissues for the 2027 live-action sequel.

I Totally Forgot About One Major Death In How To Train Your Dragon 2

Directly after watching the live-action How To Train Your Dragon on streaming, Peacock directed me right to the animated sequel. I do remember loving it when it came out, but shortly after turning it on, I realized there’s a lot I had forgotten about the movie (and, it’s over a decade old at this point anyways). I knew that Hiccup ends up reuniting with his long-lost mother, Valka Haddock, who is a dragon rescuer akin to him, but whoa, I forgot about the whole Bewilderbeast storyline.

Basically, Toothless and his Viking friends come across dragon trappers, who become enamored with stealing away the dragons of Berk. They hail to a warlord named Drago, who wants to enslave all dragons into his own army. Drago has an alpha dragon called the Bewilderbeast, who can control smaller dragons with hypnotic sound waves, and he uses these powers to get to Toothless, who almost kills Hiccup with one of his fatal purple blasts. However, Hiccup’s father, Stoick, gets into the blast’s path and sacrifices himself for his son. How absolutely tragic. I couldn’t believe what I was watching take place in the family fantasy film.

After Revisiting It, I Expect To Be In Shambles For The Live-Action Sequel

One of the reasons why I loved the live-action How To Train Your Dragon movie was for the more emotional journey between Hiccup and his father. I love the fact that Gerard Butler came back to play the role in live action, and seeing human expressions are always going to underline relationship moments in a new way. Now that I am caught up on Hiccup and Toothless’s journey further, I just know how sad it’s going to be to see Hiccup’s best friend accidentally kill his father because he’s protecting him. It’s even more difficult because Hiccup and Stoick have a complicated relationship, and have only started repairing things.

Oh, and it happens very soon after they reunite with Valka, making it way more bittersweet. Even though I’m not emotionally ready, watching the 2014 sequel did get me more excited for how the live-action remake will go. Will Cate Blanchett reprise her role? Writer/director Dean Deblois has already spoken about how “challenging” it will be to recapture the events in the medium, and I totally agree. There’s dragon racing, and huge sequences with lots of dragons, and Hiccup literally flies through the air himself with his new suit. It could make for an absolutely epic live-action movie.

As we get ready for the film, which Mason Thames recently said would start production on November 1 when speaking to The Direct, planning for the new film is well underway. After seeing the second animated movie, I can say it’s one of the rare sequels that might be better than the original, so my excitement for the remake, coming out on June 11, 2027, has only heightened after witnessing all that the story includes.

Whenever I think about the biggest action stars in Hollywood right now, Dwayne Johnson and Gerard Butler immediately come to mind. Whether it’s The Rock’s work in the Fast and Furious franchise or Butler’s take on “Big Nick” in the Den of Thieves movies, these two constantly crush it in big, dumb, and utterly ridiculous action flicks. But one thing I just don’t get is why we have made it through most of the 2025 movie schedule without these two teaming up?

With some of the best action movies of all time between them, boundless charisma, and all kinds of badassery, you’d think Hollywood would be falling over backwards to make this happen. Yet, here I am, standing around waiting for the “Rock and Scot Connection” to take off…

A Dwayne Johnson And Gerard Butler Collaboration Is One Of My Action Movie Dreams

It would be a dream come true if Dwayne Johnson and Gerard Butler came together for some kind of massive and over-the-top action movie where they could trade barbs, kick ass, and have a good laugh before the credits roll. You could have this movie on the big screen or somewhere like Netflix, where Butler is pretty much king, and it would absolutely crush.

We’ve seen in Butler’s best movies, as well as The Rock’s standout performances, that these guys know how to play off their co-stars to create iconic and unforgettable movie moments. Get them together and we’re really cooking. With both actors being able to perfectly play know-it-all ass-kickers, putting them together in the same place at the same time would be bonkers and a dream come true.

It Could Work In So Many Different Ways

I keep going back and forth about what kind of movie would be best for a possible Dwayne Johnson and Gerard Butler team-up. Both have been killer in disaster films like Johnson’s wild-as-hell San Andreas and Butler’s work in Greenland (the sequel can’t come soon enough), both can hold it down in more grounded yet just as absurd action thrillers, and both can pull off comedy really well.

The “Rock and Scot Connection” could be a buddy action comedy, a straight-up thriller, or even a disaster film where their most iconic characters come together to save the world from total ruin. Hell, I’d even be down for a scenario where The Rock’s a bad guy and Butler hunts him down, or the other way around.

Gerard Butler Has Previously Voiced His Desire To Work With Dwayne Johnson

I haven’t been able to track down any comments from Dwayne Johnson teasing a collaboration with Gerard Butler, but the Den of Thieves star did previously say he’d love to work with the wrestler-turned-actor. Back in 2018, Butler told The Scottish Sun that while The Rock would dwarf him, he’d be down to work together:

Now, I don’t know if that sentiment has changed over the course of the past seven years, but in my head, I like to imagine that Butler still wants to work with The Rock as much as I want to see them together.

Only time will tell if Hollywood makes my dreams come true by making “The Rock and Scot Connection” more than just a fake tag team that’s been dominating my WWE 2K25 universe, but this needs to happen.

I love me a good Gerard Butler movie. Hell, I even love a bad Gerard Butler movie. I’ve always had a soft spot for the actor, and it seems like I’m not alone, as a lot of people with a Netflix subscription are in the same boat. I recently noticed that everything, from Butler’s 2025 movie, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, to forgotten epics like Gods of Egypt were taking up prime real estate in the Netflix Top 10 each week.

That got me thinking… Netflix should do something they should have done a long time ago by signing Butler to some kind of contract to make original movies for them. There’s obviously a market for his style of action flicks (and even dramas), and I’m totally down for more. Like right now!

Gerard Butler Movies Have Been In The Netflix Top 10 In Eight Weeks (And Counting) In 2025

Don’t judge, but I’ve gone back and pulled some stats about Butler taking over Netflix’s Top 10 rankings (at least in the United States) through the first week of August 2025, and it’s kind of ridiculous. Through the week ending on August 10, there have been eight weeks where at least one of his movies was trending on Netflix and three weeks where he had two of the most popular movies on the platform.

Earlier in the summer, Plane was killing it on Netflix, which hopefully means the sequel happens sooner rather than later. One of the best 2023 action flicks, this fun thriller was in the top half of the ranking, but it was second to Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, which held down a spot for four consecutive weeks earlier in the year. Remember Geostorm, Butler’s 2017 disaster film, where he played brothers alongside Jim Sturgess? Folks on Netflix loved that one, too!

There's Obviously A Market For Butler's Movies On Netflix, So Make Him Your Studio Star

As far as I can tell, the actor hasn’t made a Netflix original movie, and that’s something that should change. There have been multiple Anthony Mackie films, Chris Hemsworth has made a pair of action thrillers for the streamer, and Millie Bobby Brown is the platform’s premier star, and there’s no reason to think Butler wouldn’t push the subscriber count up if he were attached to one of the upcoming Netflix movies.

I haven’t dug too much into other actors’ dominance on the Netflix Top 10, but with Butler holding it down for eight weeks in 2025 so far, there’s obviously a huge following for the action star. Honestly, it kind of makes me feel better about myself in a way.

I Mean, Butler Can Handle Action, Drama, Comedy, And Different Accents

I’m not saying Butler is on the level of Daniel Day-Lewis or something like that, but this guy can pull off just about every genre. From massive fantasy epics like the popular How to Train Your Dragon live-action remake to the hyper-stylized 300 to the intense Law Abiding Citizen to the charming rom-com P.S. I Love You, he’s done it all throughout his career.

What I’m trying to say is that Butler is capable of handling everything that’s thrown at him, but I wouldn’t be mad if Netflix just gave him a stack of cash to make more action thrillers, because I need more.

Regardless of what happens, I can at least get excited for all those upcoming Gerard Butler movies (that’ll probably end up on Netflix at some point), like the long-awaited Greenland 2, the development of which I’ve been following for way too long.

It has been two years since Gerard Butler and Mike Colter teamed up for Plane, one of the best action movies of 2023, and nearly as long since it was announced that a sequel was in the works. The movie, which followed a commercial pilot and a suspected murderer as they teamed up to protect passengers after their plane crashed in the middle of a civil war, was a genuinely fun, exciting, and action-packed cinematic experience, and one of Butler’s best movies.

Now that Plane is popular with those who have a Netflix subscription, including myself, I’m starting to think about the sequel announced many months ago and wondering what’s going on with it, and when, or if, we’ll ever see it. Here’s what I’ve found so far…

I Forgot All About Plane Until It Randomly Popped Up On Netflix

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Plane when it came out in January 2023. I saw it opening weekend, I preached the gospel of Jean-Francois Richet’s intense action thriller, and I had so many thoughts about it. However, there have been several more Geard Butler movies that have come out since then, and I forgot all about the movie until it randomly popped up on Netflix. Just like Geostorm, which gained a massive following on Netflix years after its release, Plane is topping the charts.

Going back and revisiting it was a ton of fun. There may not be any “Big Nick” type scenes like that party sequence from Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, and Butler isn’t smoking heaters left and right, but this genuinely fun throwback action thriller goes hard at times.

Most of all, all the new buzz surrounding Plane has me curious as to what’s going on with a sequel that has the most appropriate title ever: Ship. Well, let me take on you a guided tour of everything that’s been said about the movie since its announcement more than two years ago.

The Plane Sequel, Ship, Was Announced Right After The Original Tore Into Theaters In Early 2023

Back in February 2023, when Plane was still in the middle of its $75-million box office run, Variety reported that the aptly titled Ship was in the works. The announcement of a sequel exactly one month after the first movie opened in theaters was quite a move and a sign that producers MadRiver Pictures, Di Bonaventura Pictures, and G-BASE Productions were more than optimistic about the budding action movie franchise.

On top of that, the report also stated that there were plans to start shooting the sequel at some point before the end of the year. Those plans, however, would not end up happening, as filming didn’t start that year or any year since then, and I’m left wondering what’s going to happen with the sequel that people were really stoked on just two years ago.

The Action Thriller Would Focus On Mike Colter's Character After The Events Of The First Film

One of the strangest yet most interesting aspects of Ship is the fact that Butler’s former RAF pilot and current commercial pilot, Brodie Torrance, isn’t going to be the main focus of the Plane sequel. Instead, as pointed out in the Variety article mentioned above, the movie will instead follow Mike Colter’s Louis Gaspare, a former GCP French Foreign Legionnaire accused of murder who was being transported to Toronto to face charges in the first movie.

Set after the events of the first film, which saw Gaspare fight off the remaining rebels so that Torrance could get the passengers and himself to safety before running into the jungle with a bag of cash and a newfound sense of freedom, the sequel will follow the legionnaire in the immediate aftermath of his escape. According to the report, Gaspare, who is at the center of an international manhunt, will become a stowaway on a cargo ship that is actually a transport vessel for a massive human trafficking operation. And so it begins again…

It Sounds Like The 2023 Writers And Actors Strikes Put Ship On Hold

It was smooth sailing for Ship as the Plane sequel prepared to leave the harbor and get things started, but then came a massive setback in the form of the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that brought Hollywood to a standstill for a large chunk of the year. In March 2025, two years after the movie was first announced, Colter told Collider that the strike made a mess of things:

It remains to be seen whether or not the pause brought on by the union strikes is just slowing things down or if it put an abrupt end to the sequel’s plans. Hopefully, it’s the former and not the latter.

Though Gerard Butler's Not Supposed To Be Starring, Maybe These Delays Will Open It Up For Brodie Torrance's Return

Though I’m bummed that we haven’t gotten a continuation of the Plane franchise after all this time, I’m hopeful that the delays will allow Butler to return for Ship in some capacity. Butler, who most recently appeared in the live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon, has a stacked schedule with the long-in-the-works Greenland 2 and the highly anticipated Den of Thieves 3, but hopefully, he can make time to bring back one of his best characters in recent memory.

I mean, who doesn’t want to see Brodie Torrance fly plans, shoot guns, and kick all kinds of ass again?

Who knows, maybe we’ll see Ship take up a spot on the 2026 movie schedule after everything is said and done. I’m hoping for the best, as I need to see more of this series…

For the most part, the cast of the live-action How to Train Your Dragon is different from the animated movies. However, there’s one actor who returned to reprise the role he originated in the animated movie, and that’s Gerard Butler. In this iteration of Hiccup’s story that’s about to premiere on the 2025 movie schedule, Butler is back to play his father, Stoick. While that alone is exciting, it became even more meaningful when he got candid about how he would have probably “picked apart” someone else’s performance if he didn't get to play Stoick.

When CinemaBlend’s Jeff McCobb interviewed Butler ahead of How to Train Your Dragon’s premiere, he noted that the actor almost didn’t play Stoick. Due to scheduling issues, it wasn’t initially going to work out. Then, the strikes happened, and a window opened up. So, he was able to do it. Thinking about all that, McCobb asked the Den of Thieves actor if he would have felt bitter or empty or felt a sense of longing if someone else played Hiccup’s dad.

In response, the actor said:

I can’t say I blame him here! The first and beloved How to Train Your Dragon movie came out in 2010, and it was followed by two more sequels in 2014 and 2019 (all of which you can stream with a Peacock subscription). So, Butler has been with Stoick for 15 years, and I totally understand that he feels a very strong connection to the character.

Plus, he’s the perfect age to play Stoick. Obviously, actors like Jay Baruchel and America Ferrera couldn’t return to play Hiccup and Astrid because they would be too old for the parts. So, casting 17-year-old Mason Thames as Hiccup and 20-year-old Nico Parker as Astrid made a lot more sense. However, for the adult characters, like Stoick specifically, they could ask the actor who played him to return.

So, yeah, if I were him, I likely would have “picked apart” another actor’s performance too. As Butler said, it’d be hard not to judge someone else's performance of the character you portrayed, especially when you played such a big role in shaping the character in the first place.

On top of that, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon has been dubbed a “loving homage” to the animated movie. Having seen it, I can also confirm it recreates everything you know and love from the 2010 film. So, if someone else had played Stoick, and Butler had to watch him play out the same story, it would have been hard not to hyperfixate on the choices made.

However, thankfully, we don’t live in a universe where that happened. Gerard Butler was able to play Stoick once again, and this time he actually got to don that iconic beard! Clearly, he had a blast in the new How to Train Your Dragon, and it was so fun to not only hear him as the fearless chief of Berk but see him in costume and really walking around this world of dragons.

Now, you can see Gerard Butler as Stoick once again when How to Train Your Dragon hits theaters on June 13.

How To Train Your Dragon premiered at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this month, and lots of fans of the original Dreamworks pic raved about the new movie bringing some big animated moments to life. Among its differences is an (almost) entirely new cast, though the live action remake did bring back Gerard Butler to play Stoick the Vast. And I have to say, he seemed to be having the best time doing it.

Butler came onstage ahead of the premiere along with director Dean DeBlois to promote the summer 2025 movie release. The actor opened up about re-joining the franchise at CinemaCon 2025, joking that Stoick hadn’t aged—and there’s a very 2025 reason the Viking zaddy looks so good in live action.

Butler: "The franchise has been part of my life for 15 years, but he [Stoick] hasn’t aged a bit."

Director Dean DeBlois: "The magic of movies."

Butler: "and Ozempic."

Butler (also joking): "…I just can’t think of any other actor who could do it justice."

Unlike a lot of the then-younger actors like America Ferrera and Jay Baruchel, who have aged out of their roles (both are in their forties now), Butler was 41 when he played Stoick the first time on the big screen, voicing the character in the animated 2010 film. Now he’s 55, but conceivably looks like he could still be in the correct age range to be Hiccup’s dad. Per the actor, it’s the “Ozempic” that’s really been helping.

I’m honestly glad the studio got Gerard Butler back for the new movie and brought him to Universal's CinemaCon 2025 event. The characters are obviously all still familiar, regardless of being played by new actors. However, it’s really nice for that connective thread to be there to usher the franchise into this new era.

I also know Butler was joking when he said onstage he “can’t think of any other actor” who would be a fit for the role, but there’s still a germ of truth to that. Stoick was probably a fun character to voice back in 2010, but getting to wear the big beard and the Viking helmet and play the over-the-top character again looks like it was a blast. ... a blast of hot dragon air that is.

In all actuality, Butler previously said the whole getup in live action was like the "five pieces of hell," which is a little surprising given how much fun he's having onscreen (and onstage). His whole take kind of reminds me of a time when the late Ray Stevenson also wore a similar getup for a Marvel movie and he told me once in an interview he had to wear an ice pack to keep cool.

Look, it's hard being a bearded wonder, but the good news is that while Universal and Dreamworks already announced a second live action movie in the works, there's already a blueprint for that second movie, and that means Butler won't have to hang onto the fur coat and Viking beard forever.

There have been plenty of instances in which a film or TV show, it becomes available to Netflix subscription holders and it experiences a resurgence. This seemed to happen this past week with Geostorm, which landed on the streamer and seemingly made waves. As exciting as that is, fans of the film should get pumped for another reason. That's because a different movie starring Gerard Butler is about to get a sequel.

Upon its arrival on Netflix, Geostorm managed to crack the streamer's Top 10 list, hitting the No. 4 spot. That would seemingly indicate that a solid number of viewers decided to watch the film, which as a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 18%. While it has since fallen off, I'd still say that's impressive. What I'd argue is even more notable, though, is that the other Butler-led film I alluded to is receiving a sequel after experiencing a wild release.

The film receiving the sequel is Greenland, which didn’t exactly get its due when it was released back in 2020. The film was delayed several times at the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and ended up receiving an at-home release, eventually becoming available with a Max subscription by the end of that year. Despite the hiccups and the release date woes, the Ric Roman Waugh-helmed flick surprisingly performed well financially, and that's arguably what sparked a sequel titled Greenland: Migration.

The fact that the 2020 survival movie, which has a 77% critics score on RT, didn’t have a traditional theatrical opening is truly a shame, because it's a really good disaster movie better than many might expect. The film follows a family who fights for their survival as a comet races towards Earth and threatens to exterminate the human race. Greenland received mostly positive critical reviews, and Gerard Butler gives one of the strongest performances of his career.

Butler is no stranger to the action/thriller genre, having starred in movies like Plane, Olympus Has Fallen and 300. However, Greenland showcases a more grounded, down to earth performance from him and he really shines.

Migration directly follows the events of its predecessor. The central family, who survived within a bunker in the OG flick, are forced to leave their shelter and embark on a dangerous journey to find a new home in decimated Europe. The movie has already wrapped filming and will be released by Lionsgate sometime this year. It sounds like a great popcorn film and, once a trailer is finally released, it may encourage people to check out the original film as well.

Hopefully, Migration gets its due in the way the first film should have. I also could totally see this title thriving on a platform like Netflix. If a critically-panned movie like Geostorm is able to find an audience on Netflix, and even rank in the Top 10, a film with a film with a bit more oomph could gain even more attention. I’m rooting for this sequel and hoping that it lives up to the quality of the original while also finding a solid audience.

You will be able to see Greenland: Migration this year, as it's expected to drop amid the 2025 movie schedule at some point. As for the first movie, it's still available to stream on Max. Finally, if you're looking for even more spectacle, check out Geostorm as well.

The CinemaCon festivities have continued in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday with the Universal Pictures and Focus Features Panel. While CinemaBlend was in attendance at the event, Universal started things off by announcing that a second How To Train Your Dragon live-action movie is already in the works ahead this summer's remake being among upcoming 2025 movies hitting theaters this June.

As a longtime fan of the DreamWorks movies, when I heard the news, I couldn't help about the character I'm most excited to see in live-action: Hiccup's mom, Valka. And who voiced the role in the 2014 animated movie? Cate Blanchett.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 Has Already Been Announced

I'll get to Ms. Cate in a moment. First, here's how director Dean DeBlois announced the sequel to CinemaCon attendees:

CinemaCon attendees actually started their days with a premiere screening of the live-action How To Train Your Dragon, which has already earned high praise from audiences. Our site's own Jessica Rawden called it "everything a live-action remake should be: funny, emotional, and sentimental – yet epic in scope." Other first reactions called it "gorgeous," "adorable" and had some even in tears.

I'm Going To Need Cate Blanchett To Join Live-Action Berk

The announcement of the sequel shows a huge vote of confidence from Universal about the success of the summer movie, but now I won't stop thinking about Cate Blanchett being another one of the animated voices from the How To Train Your Dragon movies who should reprise their role in live action.

In the first movie, which is just two months from release, Gerard Butler came back to play Hiccup's dad, Stoick, but in live-action. He called the costume and massive beard "five pieces of hell," and this time he and the cast battled freezing weather while making it, but it sound like it might have been worth it.

As you might recall from the sequel to How To Train Your Dragon, Hiccup and Toothless's second adventures takes place five years after the events of the first movie, at a time where a 20-year-old Hiccup and his Night Fury encounter his long-lost mother and a ruthless dragon hunter named Drago Bludvist, played by Djimon Hounsou.

When Dean DeBlois, who was the writer/director of the original trilogy along with these live-action versions, made the sequel for How To Train Your Dragon, he was inspired by the first sequel to Star Wars. I'm so excited to see what the production is going to do with the second movie, but I need to see this summer's version first!

Here’s something to know about me: I can’t get enough of Gerard Butler’s Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien from the Den of Thieves franchise. Though I was late to the game with the first film, I didn’t make that same mistake with Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, and boy was I glad. Seeing Big Nick team up with O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie Wilson for an epic diamond heist in the French Riviera was easily one of my favorite experiences with a 2025 movie, and that’s especially true for one outrageously fun scene just before the halfway point.

Now that Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is streaming for anyone with a Netflix subscription – it was added to the streamer in March – I have to talk about the absurd party scene where Nick, Donnie, and the rest of their crew go all out at a nightclub. And I sure hope I’m not the only one so obsessed with this party sequence…

Okay, Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera Is A Wild Ride From Start To Finish

As critics pointed out ahead of the film’s release, Den of Thieves: Pantera was too much fun and a wild ride from start to finish. Whether it was Donnie and his new crew pulling off that intense heist at an airport at the start of the film, Big Nick trying to get overseas to track the prolific thief, or the two teaming up for a great buddy action adventure, there was so much to love.

I’m not saying the first movie is tame in comparison (that Benihana scene is still one of the best in the crime genre), but this European-set heist film took everything that worked about its predecessor and turned it up a few notches. I mean, have you seen the way Gerard Butler smokes cigarettes in this? But as I said above, there’s one sequence that steals the whole show…

'Big Nick' Going Crazy In The Club Scene Is The Most Fun I've Had All Year

I love a good party scene. Always have and always will. And Den of Thieves 2: Pantera more than delivers with its epic, hilarious, and important night club sequence that involves Big Nick bonding with Donnie’s crew (and also trying to prove he’s not a cop). Drinking, smoking (both cigs and other illegal substances), dancing, fighting, romancing, you name it and it’s there. This was seriously one of those scenes I wish would never end.

The best thing I can compare it to is the “A Quiet Time” mission in Red Dead Redemption 2 where Arthur Morgan and Lenny go out for a few drinks at a saloon and then end up dancing, fighting, and getting into all kinds of mischief before the sun comes up. It’s a mission I look forward to with each replay, and Den of Thieves 2’s party sequence is the same category.

On Top Of That, It Also Sets Up The Rest Of The Movie (And Possibly The Rest Of The Franchise)

It’s not just fun and games, as the Den of Thieves 2: Pantera party sequence also pulls off a great deal of character development in a short amount of time. There’s the bonding between Nick and Donnie that furthers their evolving dynamic and makes the film’s ending all the more gratifying. But there’s also the building of the Pantera team as they build a level of trust that wasn’t there before and probably wouldn’t be there without a good night out.

I also think the sequence does a great job of setting up the franchise moving forward. We already know that Den of Thieves 3 is in the works, and it’s easy to see how the cause-and-effect aspect of this crucial scene will spill over into what comes next for Nick, Donnie, and the other major players involved because of it.

When Den of Thieves 3 does eventually come around, I hope that there’s a party sequence that comes anywhere near this night club scene. If that happens, we’re in for a real treat.

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. If you’ve yet to watch the buddy heist film, please proceed with caution.

The 2025 movie schedule is in full swing, and we've already seen some winners like Den of Thieves 2: Pantera paly for audiences. Critics, too, had great things to say about the buddy heist film, especially when it came to the dynamic shared by Gerard Butler’s Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien and O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie Wilson and how it evolved. Now that Den of Thieves 3 is happening, it sounds like that relationship could be changing once again.

I recently sat down with Christian Gudegast, the writer and director of the Den of Thieves movies to talk about everything from the home release of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, now available on PVOD to the franchise’s future. During that chat, I made sure to ask him just how things are going to change for the two main characters now that Donnie is working with the mafia and Big Nick is essentially a wanted criminal:

As you may recall --I said there would be spoilers -- Den of Thieves 2: Pantera ended with Donnie being broken out of jail (with the help of Big Nick) by the mafia after the Pantera game is arrested for their part in the diamond heist and impressive chase sequence. Now working for the Octopus organization, it sounds like Donnie will working his way up the food chain, as Gudegast put it.

But what about Big Nick O’Brien and all his cigarettes? What’s he going to be up to? Well, as Gudegast put it to CinemaBlend, he’s going to be exploring a new stage in his life that’s like nothing that came before:

Gudegast also alluded to both Nick and Donnie going through some more personal things when Den of Thieves 3 picks up with their stories. He didn’t give too much away, but by the sounds of it, this could be a major jump in both Nick and Donnie’s dynamic and the story as a whole.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens with Big Nick and Donnie down the road. For now, we can always go back and revisit Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, which is available on PVOD and will be on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 4, 2025, from Lionsgate.

When news first broke that Den of Thieves 3 is happening, my immediate reaction was that I hope we don’t have to wait more than a half-decade to see what’s next for Gerard Butler’s Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien and O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie Wilson. But after speaking with Christian Gudegast, the man behind Den of Thieves 2: Pantera --a great heist film that critics called “too much fun” when it hit the 2025 movie schedule -- I don’t think we’ll have to worry about another seven-year itch.

I recently sat down with Gudegast to discuss Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, which is now available on PVOD and will be dropping on physical media on March 4 from Lionsgate, to discuss everything from the sequel’s best scenes to the dynamic shared by Butler and Jackson to where the franchise is going moving forward. And when I asked when fans could expect to see the ball get rolling on the highly-anticipated threequel, he had this to say:

Gudegast didn’t have a perfect timeline for the shoot, but this is great news for those of us who just can’t get enough of the Den of Thieves franchise, even if some of us waited so long to start watching. And while nothing has been said about a possible release date, it wouldn’t be all the surprising if Den of Thieves 3 came out at some point in January 2027, the same month the first two movies hit the big screen.

Based on everything that’s been said about Den of Thieves 3, it sounds like the upcoming heist film will not only be another fun action thriller, but also be part of something much bigger. During my chat with Gudegast, the director not only said he’s got a third movie ready to go, but he has plans for Den of Thieves 4 and beyond:

The director's comments about a franchise based on original content being a “holy grail” were great to hear. There are countless franchises these days, but seeing one not tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the up-and-coming DCU, or legacy sequels like the upcoming Jurassic World Rebirth is honestly incredibly refreshing. And no, it’s not just because I want to see Gerard Butler take down cigs like nobody’s business.

When we’ll get to see Den of Thieves 3 is anyone’s guess at this point, but you can watch Pantera now on PVOD services or on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD starting March 4, 2025.

As we approach the release of the live-action How To Train Your Dragon on the 2025 movie schedule, we're finally getting to see peeks of the practical version of Berk, and every piece of information has been getting fans excited. Now, Gerard Butler is opening up about how this new film differs from its animated predecessor, explaining why it's actually scarier than the OG film.

In an interview with The Direct, Butler, who plays Stoick the Vast in the live-action film and voiced him in the OG movies, shared that the new project will be more frightening. This shift in tone came up because the actor was asked how this new live-action film differs from the animated project. Elaborating on why he thinks the new movie is scarier, the Den of Thieves actor said:

If you watch the live-action How to Train Your Dragon trailer and compare it to the animated one from 2010, the tone of the two is quite different. The live-action is more serious, and its music is meant to get the blood pumping. Meanwhile, the animated one is plucky and fun.

Overall, the live-action is meant to be much darker and serious, which isn’t surprising as some of the later animated movies, like Hidden World, left us ugly crying by the end because they are so deep, dark and emotional.

Considering the live-action dragons already look damn good, the new movie is going to feel more intense and immersive, which is a good thing. Seeing as the first animated film's focus is trying to show that these alarming majestic creatures aren’t all bad, you do have to make them intimidating and lifelike first before showing their lighter side.

Many fans were concerned about how the dragons would look, and this is just because creature design for live-action can be kind of hit-and-miss when your original model is a fictitious animated creature. Thankfully, this new HTTYD looks amazing, and Butler's comments up my excitement too.

Speaking of Butler, he revealed other interesting BTS info about the film coming out later this year, including talking about the pieces of “hell” he called a costume. Plus, while some people were skeptical of Hiccup’s actor Mason Thames, his co-star Nick Frost gave big praise to him and his performance. So, all around the cast is excited and invested in this film.

As for the movie itself, fans are optimistic as so far this looks like it’ll be a decent adaptation. The trailer showed us the most iconic scene of the movie, and it already looks like it’ll be a tearjerker. So, hopes are high. Also, with a cast that features faces from the old films and new folks who are all stoked about this new adaptation, it already feels like it will be something that all fans can enjoy.

Call all dads, or at least fans of mid-budget action movies – Den of Thieves 3 is happening. A few weeks after Den of Thieves 2: Pantera came onto the scene and took the top spot at the box office early on the 2025 movie schedule, a January trend for Gerard Butler at this point, the world on the street is that we haven’t seen the cigarette-smoking Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien or O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie Wilson. Exciting news, right? Well, after the way the great buddy action movie teased the next chapter, I am very, very excited.

In January 2025, just days after Den of Thieves 2: Pantera was released on PVOD, IndieWire reported that Lionsgate was actively developing a third installment in the heist movie franchise, with Butler and Jackson, as well as director Christian Gudagest, slated to return. And while nothing has been officially announced about the plot, setting, and any new DOT characters, I have some thoughts about where things could be headed after the Den of Thieves 2 ending.

It’s Not Over Between Big Nick O’Brien And Donnie Wilson

SPOILER WARNING: There are major spoilers for Den of Thieves 2: Pantera below. If you’ve yet to watch the movie, please turn back now (and don’t eat the donut off the ground at a crime scene).

Now that the whole spoiler warning business is out of the way, it’s time to talk about the Den of Thieves 2 ending and how I think it teased the upcoming threequel and possibly more installments in this highly rewatchable crime franchise.

After the big World Diamond Center heist goes down and that awesome car chase through the mountains ends with the Octopus mob outfit helping Nick and Donnie, it looks like things are going to end well for the pair of reluctant enemies-turned-friends. That is until Nick sells out the crew to the Pantera task force, and Donnie is arrested. But that isn’t the only twist, as Donnie (while being transferred to a different prison) is rescued/kidnapped by the mafia and given a role in its operation. Judging by a text Donnie sends to Big Nick in the final moments of the movie, it sounds like the down-on-his-luck and morally ambiguous former LASD deputy was in on it.

The open-ended Den of Thieves 2 final scene could mean a lot of things for what’s next for Big Nick. As we’ve seen in the first two movies, the guy’s life back home is a mess – his wife divorced him, he doesn’t get to see his daughters, he’s been put on leave, there’s a sex tape that’s being used against him as blackmail, etc. – and he might be better suited starting a new life. Whether that means a life of crime or working with the Pantera force (or a similar group), is anyone’s guess. But I don’t see Big Nick going back to the status quo in Los Angeles after this.

Regardless of what happens in Den of Thieves 3 (please use the Den of Thi3ves titled, Lionsgate), I’ll be there yet again to see what will probably be one of Gerard Butler’s best movies. I just hope we don’t have to wait so long this time.

I love big car chases almost as much as I love heist films, and so I got very excited when I read the critical response to Den of Thieves 2: Pantera and found out that the long-in-the-works sequel starring Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. featured both. And the early addition to the 2025 movie schedule didn’t disappoint with its intense robbery scenes, incredible planning sequences, and what has been described as the first electric car chase. Then I found out how director Christian Gudegast made it all happen.

This epic car chase immediately following Butler’s Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien and Jackson’s Donnie Wilson pulling off an impressive heist at the World Diamond Center in Nice, France, has everything you’d want in a scene like this, including a great story about how it all came together. In a recent interview with Variety, Terry Stacey, who worked as a cinematographer on the film, shared how pre-viz work and a pair of Porsche Taycan Turbos were made to look like go-kart helped them pull it off:

Okay, the idea of Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. riding around in a state-of-the-art electric Porsche while a stunt driver controls the vehicle from a perch atop its roof sounds so awesome and something from The Fall Guy. I love how this setup not only allowed the actors to focus on bringing this killer scene to life, but also made the whole sequence look even more realistic and epic.

Later in the interview, Stacey explained that the sequence, which took a week to shoot, used some crafty cameras as well as some daring actions to pull off the portion where the Porsche, still being chased by a pair of Audis, comes out of a tunnel high up in the mountains:

All of this worked together to create one of the best car chases in recent memory, and something I can’t wait to see Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and director Christian Gudegast outdo when the teased Den of Thieves 3 eventually comes out.

If you haven’t seen Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, don’t be like me with its predecessor by sleeping on the 2018 crime flick. While the movie isn’t for everyone, there’s so much to love, even outside the electric Porsche chase sequence.

I’m obsessed with “Big” Nick. Gerard Butler has played all manner of action hero over the years, from soldiers and cops to Spartans and medieval Viking kings with dragons as pets. The actor usually brings some unique flavor to his portrayals, and the weirder Butler is allowed to me, the more memorable the feature ends up being. Granted, Mike Banning from the Olympus Has Fallen film series is pretty straight-laced, but it was necessary. “Big” Nick O’Brien is the polar opposite. He’s a wild card. He’s a rule breaker. And he’s the reason why Den of Thieves 2: Pantera nabbed the top spot at the box office on opening weekend. People needed to see what Butler was going to do next as “Big” Nick.

You know what they didn’t expect? The way that Gerard Butler chooses to smoke his cigarettes in the Den of Thieves movies. You can see it in the photo below. There’s a very unique style to the way that “Big” Nick O’Brien holds his cigarettes while he’s planning a diamond heist, or arguing with Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) about the next steps in their latest scheme. Take a look at this posture:

As it turns out, there’s a very good reason for Gerard Butler choosing to smoke his cigarettes that way when he’s in character as “Big” Nick. He’s mimicking someone who works behind the scenes on the movies. Speaking with Den of Thieves 2: Pantera writer and director Christian Gudegast during a recent press day, I asked about Butler’s choices with the cigarettes, and was told:

Well, now I need to see the fat rings on the fingers of the technical advisor for the Den of Thieves movies! And this man better be brought back for Den of Thieves 3, which hasn’t been greenlit yet, even though Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. know which actor they’d like to see join them in a sequel.

Listen, almost any actor can step into a brainless shoot-’em-up and deliver the goods. It takes a little extra spice to create a film that’s going to land on the Best Action Movies of All Time list. And while I’m not saying that the Den of Thieves movies reach that pinnacle, I do appreciate the small touches that Gerard Butler has brought to movies such as Greenland, Plane, Machine Gun Preacher, Hunter Killer and more. It tells me he cares just a little bit more than the competition.

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is still bringing audiences into theaters, but use our guide to all of the upcoming 2025 movie releases to see what else will be playing near you in the coming weeks and months.

Have you ever heard of a “drop the remote” movie? It implies that a particular movie is so good, if you should encounter it while channel surfing – no matter what part the film happens to be on – you are going to drop the remote and watch it all the way ‘til the end. Usually, “drop the remote” movies tend to be comedies, which explains why Christopher Nolan named some top Will Ferrell comedies as his “drop the remote” choices. Other times, it’s guilty-pleasure action movies, ones that allow us to turn off our brains and just enjoy explosions, adrenaline, and fun.

The first Den of Thieves qualified as a “drop the remote” movie for a lot of people as it screened on cable. The heist thriller, starring Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr., didn’t thrill critics, and had a meager box-office performance. But audiences found it eventually, and really loved it. Heck, The Rewatchables basically claimed it as one of their own, boosting the movie’s profile through their podcast. This proved valuable when Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera recently opened. Our own Eric Eisenberg didn’t love it, but the movie made enough to lead the box office.

A new “drop the remote” movie might have been born.

While speaking with Gerard Butler on behalf of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, I asked the London Has Fallen actor if he had any movies that had that effect on him. Specifically, were there any action movies he could think of that, when they came on, he threw down the remote and watched to the end. And he came up with the best possible answer. Said Butler:

Gerard Butler isn’t exaggerating. Whether it be 300 or Greenland, the actor has so many action movies on his resume. But he wisely deferred to the best Bruce Willis action movie of all time: the original Die Hard. Christmas movie? Who cares? No matter what time of the year it is, we’re always game to watch John McClane (Willis) methodically working his way through a skyscraper filled with terrorists. There’s a reason Samuel L. Jackson told an interviewer that Die Hard with a Vengeance had a bigger impact on his career than Pulp Fiction did. Die Hard is massive. It’s global. It’s Die Hard!

One element of the “drop the remote” movie tends to be that it creates a franchise, and Butler hopes that’s the case with Den Of Thieves. The sequel didn’t set the box office on fire. But the actor and his co-star, O’Shea Jackson Jr., already have cast members in mind if they get to add to the ensemble and make Den of Thieves 3. Sadly, it can’t be Bruce Willis, as he has retired. But you know the spirit of John McClane will infuse every decision that is made on the Den of Thieves franchise, so long as Gerard Butler is in charge.

You never know what movies are going to lead to sequels, and possibly create franchises that will go on for years. Just look at The Fast and the Furious franchise, which is gearing up to release its eleventh movie (which alone is insanity) but also led to spinoffs, theme park rides, and probably will transition to television in some format. Studio executives just have to be ready to respond when fan interaction signals the launch of a hit. Which is what happened with Den of Thieves, a 2018 raw-meat drama about an L.A. county sheriff with the incredible nickname Big Nick (Gerard Butler, rarely better) tracking down a gang of criminals looking to pull off a massive heist. The movie didn’t get great reviews, and it did OK at the box office. But on streaming? It became the ideal rewatchable thriller.

This week, after several years of delay, the anticipated sequel Den of Thieves 2: Pantera bounds into theaters, shifting the action out of Los Angeles and delivering on the promise that was teased in the closing minutes of the original movie. We get Gerard Butler back as “Big Nick” in the sequel, and he’s reteaming with O’Shea Jackson’s Donnie Wilson, this time for a scheme that has them targeting diamond merchants. Because this looks like it’s going to be the continuation of a franchise, I asked the guys who they’d want to see in the eventual Den of Thieves 3. And they had an instant answer:

Gerard Butler is going all the way back to the excellent Guy Ritchie action comedy RocknRolla, which also featured memorable turns from Thandie Newton, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, and Toby Kebbell. And truthfully, I want all of them in the assumed Den of Thieves 3. I’d even say lure Guy Ritchie back and let him direct one of these movies, but director Christian Gudegast has a firm grip on the series.

He was sitting beside his producer Tucker Tooley, who chimed in on the concept of adding another action star. Tooley, to my surprise, also offered Idris Elba, saying:

Makes me think there already have been conversations. And why not? Idris Elba is a fantastic actor, and a proven leading man. There’s a reason his name seemed to be in the mix every time James Bond casting was rumored. Before we get to Den of Thieves 3, people need to turn up for Den of Thieves 2, which got off to $1.35M in Thursday previews. That bodes well for the weekend, but we shall see how it goes.

As a self-professed fan of all things Gerard Butler (even when he doesn’t use his Scottish accent), I’m a little pissed off at myself for sleeping on Den of Thieves for so long. This 2018 crime thriller about a morally ambiguous cop trying to prevent a close-knit group of bank robbers from pulling off the heist of the century was something I admittedly put off for way too long, and I don’t really know why. Well, that recently changed…

Ahead of the long-awaited release of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera on the 2025 movie schedule, I decided to go back and finally watch the original to see what all the fuss was about. Let me tell ya, while the movie isn’t in the discussion of the best heist movie of all time, I had a ton of fun during the experience. With intense action, great set pieces, electrifying character dynamics, and a wonderful twist ending, there was a lot to love. Let me explain…

I Thought Den Of Thieves Would Be Some Mid-Tier Heat Knockoff, But I Was So Wrong

The critical response to Den of Thieves wasn’t all that great, with CinemaBlend only giving the movie two out of five stars in our official review back in January 2018, so I didn’t have the highest of expectations going into the movie. If anything, I thought it would be nothing more than some mid-tier Heat knockoff like so many other action thrillers since one of the best ‘90s movies first hit the big screen, but I was so wrong.

Yeah, there are some similarities between Christian Gudegast’s 2018 crime film and Michael Mann’s 1995 epic, but the movies are two completely different beasts. Despite both having loud-as-hell robbery scenes, and cat-and-mouse chases through the streets of the Greater Los Angeles area, Den of Thieves never felt like it was ripping off Heat, but instead paying homage or using it as inspiration.

The Dynamic Shared By Gerard Butler And O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s Characters Was Incredible And Really Made The Movie

At the heart of Den of Thieves is the incredible dynamic shared by Gerard Butler’s Detective Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien and O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie Wilson, a bartender and getaway driver for the Merrimen bank robbery crew. Though the leader of the team, Ray Merrimen, played by Pablo Schreiber from The Wire cast, does have an integral role in the plot of the film, I kept finding myself being drawn to the relationship at the core of the O’Brien/Wilson story.

I can’t get over how neither of these guys live in worlds of absolutes, as neither is entirely good while also not being entirely bad at the same time, if that makes sense. O’Brien, though a cop, is a morally ambiguous person who’ll do anything he can to solve a case or at least get a lead. He’s unfaithful to his wife, prone to violent outbursts, and seems like he has some serious skeletons in his closet. And Wilson, who has been to prison and carries out some violent heists where multiple people get killed, doesn’t seem evil.

Though not the same, they have more in common than they’d like to admit, which adds tension and excitement to the movie overall.

The Opening Robbery Was One Of The Loudest Movie Scenes I've Watched In Years

I’m a sucker for movies with great opening scenes, and I guess I have to add Den of Thieves to that list because the first five minutes or so of this crime thriller go hard in the paint. Seriously, the shootout that immediately follows the Merrimen team hijacking the armored truck at a donut shop in the pre-dawn hours is one of the loudest scenes I’ve watched in years.

Okay, remember just how loud the shootout scene in Heat was (if not, here’s a reminder)? Well, the Den of Thieves opening is right there with it. I could feel each gunshot that came through on my speakers in my living room (and this isn’t a top-of-the-line setup, but instead a soundbar). I’m talking thuds, shatters, vibrations galore. After that, I knew I was hooked.

The Final Heist Felt Like A Video Game, And I Mean That In The Best Way

I mean this in the best possible way, but the final heist in Den of Thieves felt a whole lot like something out of a video game. With the Federal Reserve in downtown Los Angeles as the target where the crew will take $30 million in old bills retired from circulation before they can be destroyed (essentially making the money untraceable), a plan that involves a fake bank robbery as a distraction, and then yet another shootout, I was on the edge of my seat (and staying up way too late) finishing it.

The way that one thing led to the next, the small victories, the minor mishaps that turned into something large, the multiple planes of action, it all felt like something out of the final mission of a Grand Theft Auto game. Never once was I bored throughout this.

I'm Glad I Didn't Read Any Spoilers Because The Den Of Thieves Ending Was Great

Spoiler Warning: The final section of this story contains major spoilers for the Den of Thieves ending. If you haven’t watched the movie, please stop and check it out with a Max subscription.

Okay, with the spoiler warning out of the way, I have to talk about the Den of Thieves ending and how I’m glad I didn’t have it ruined for me before watching. Basically, in the chaos of the final shootout, Donnie escaped police custody and was able to get away, but without the cash. Or, so Big Nick and the audience are led to believe.

In the final scene, it is revealed that not only did Donnie get away with the cash (which he sent to an offshore account in Panama) but that he was actually the mastermind behind the whole plan all along. He gave Merrimen and his crew the details about the gig, he was friends with insiders at the Federal Reserve, and he was a criminal mastermind getting ready to pull off his next heist: a diamond exchange in London. And that’s where Den of Thieves 2: Pantera will pick up.

Man, I’m really glad I finally got around to watching Den of Thieves. In fact, it was one of the best movies on Max I’ve watched in a while, and now I’m all jazzed up for the sequel.

It wasn’t long after Den of Thieves hit theaters in 2018 that writer/director Christian Gudegast began working on a sequel to the heist movie. Now, seven years later, Big Nick is finally back, hitting the 2025 movie calendar with Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. This time Gerard Butler’s character is pursuing O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie Wilson after he escaped to Europe with plans to execute a new robbery. Critics were able to screen the flick ahead of its January 10 theatrical release, so let’s see what they’re saying about this second installment.

While seven years may have passed in real time, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera picks up right where its 2018 predecessor (available to stream with a Max subscription) left off, with Nick O’Brien reeling after being bested by the thief. Big Nick goes after Donnie, and what follows is a surprisingly good time, according to Christian Zilko of IndieWire, who grades it a B. Despite its mid-January release and ridiculously unserious subtitle, the Gerard Butler movie is far more entertaining than it has any right to be, the critic says, writing:

Chris Bumbray of JoBlo gives it a “Good” 7 out of 10. The critic admits going in with low expectations but was pleasantly surprised by the slick sequel. Bumbray says Pantera is much more fun than the first film with its fresh Euro-style vibes, and he wouldn’t be surprised to see Den of Thieves 3 somewhere down the road. He continues:

Matt Schimkowitz of AV Club gives Den of Thieves 2 a B-, saying this is lighter than the first movie, as Christian Gudegast has toned down moral ambiguities and cranked up the personalities and likability of the characters, making for a “funnier, chummier heist.” Schimkowitz says:

Owen Gleiberman of Variety calls Den of Thieves 2: Pantera a satisfying impersonation of a high-end crime film, saying that Gerard Butler is good enough to lift “a piece of pulp so it almost seems like a real movie.” The critic continues:

Frank Scheck of THR, however, isn’t here for the sequel or the bromance, saying the chemistry between Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. isn’t as interesting as the director thinks it is. Add the too-long runtime, and Scheck calls this heist movie more “numbing” than invigorating. He writes:

It sounds like if you’re able to suspend reality for long enough (probably too long) to go along for this buddy heist flick, you might be in for a good time. If Den of Thieves 2: Pantera sounds like the mid-January movie you’ve been looking for, you can catch it in theaters now.

There are few actors that can say that they’ve played the same character in both a beloved animated movie franchise and a live-action remake, but Gerard Butler has had the chance to do so with the How To Train Your Dragon live-action movie. He’s set to once again play Hiccup’s father, Stoick the Vast, and his description of his experience playing the Viking is only getting me more excited.

After the first look of Butler as Stoick was revealed in the How To Train Your Dragon teaser, the actor was asked if he grew out a massive beard for the role. Here’s what he said:

While it must have been exciting for the actor to revisit the DreamWorks character by physically playing him, it didn’t come without a lot more responsibilities than talking into a voice booth. As he told Entertainment Tonight, he definitely didn’t decide to copy Stoick’s facial hair by growing out his hair, but the process to get his hair on set was “five pieces of hell.” He also said this:

While I’ve grown a little weary of all the upcoming live-action Disney movie remakes, I’m rather excited to see Toothless on the big screen again for this reimagining. It definitely helps that the original writer/director Dean DeBlois came back to make his famed DreamWorks project for live-action, and the first footage is really exciting.

Butler made a solid point that while he voiced the role across about a decade of the How To Train Your Dragon trilogy, he could only imagine what it’s like to be a Viking like Stoick. While shooting the live action version, which wrapped filming in May, he loved getting to actually play that world. However, at the same time, it also meant Butler had a 90-pound costume and shot in freezing weather in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As Butler continued:

Yeah, this is starting to become one of my most anticipated 2025 movies. While the animated films will always be something I treasure and love, there’s something exciting about knowing that Gerard Butler and the rest of the cast really had a taste of Viking life and will give us a taste as well with the release.

Getting a chance to see how Stoick would be through Butler’s live-action portrayal, along with the new versions Hiccup (Mason Thames), Astrid (Nico Parker), Gobber the Belch (Nick Frost) or Fishlegs Ingerman (Julian Dennison) along with seeing dragons fly and the world of Berk is going to be a blast. The movie hits theaters on June 13.

As the 2024 movie release schedule winds down and the slate of 2025 new movies looms, it’s the perfect time to get hyped for what’s ahead. Topping my excitement list is the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon. Gerard Butler, no stranger to challenging shoots (remember his epic turn in 300?), is taking on the role of Stoick the Vast. And it sounds like his latest challenge is as intense as ever. With ice baths, freezing weather, and a 90-pound Viking costume, The Bounty Hunter actor and his fellow HTTYD cast didn’t just act like Vikings—they practically became them.

Speaking recently with Collider, the Scotland-born actor opened up about the physical toll of the production, and it sounds like every bit of it was as intense as you’d expect from a movie about fire-breathing dragons and battle-hardened warriors. While fans may imagine sweeping vistas and awe-inspiring visual effects as the most challenging aspects of filming, the actor revealed just how punishing the off-screen environment was, too. He revealed to the outlet:

That definitely sounds like an intense process. But it might have worked out, as Butler looks killer in the role.

Apparently, the harsh conditions didn’t end there. The Law Abiding Citizen star described the sheer physicality required for the role, particularly his weighty Viking ensemble, which might be a contender for the heaviest costume in cinema history. He continued:

As I mentioned earlier, Gerard Butler is no stranger to intense on-set experiences—it’s par for the course when you’ve been an action movie star since the early 2000s. The Playing for Keeps actor even recently shared how he “burned alive” and accidentally poured acid on his face while filming Plane.

In a twist of fate, while his How to Train Your Dragon co-stars braved freezing temperatures, the Gamer performer’s hefty Viking costume turned him into a walking furnace. Of course, this came with its own quirks—like a constantly slipping beard and melting eyebrows. The Gods of Egypt star hilariously recalled:

If Butler’s onset glimpses of the How to Train Your Dragon set are any indication, this live-action adaptation isn’t just aiming to capture the adventurous spirit of the animated films—it’s bringing the intensity you’d expect of a fantasy epic.

Based on the first How to Train Your Dragon teaser alone, fans should expect a visceral, grounded take on the story of Hiccup and Toothless, with Butler’s portrayal of Stoick adding plenty of gravitas and grit.

Here’s hoping all that sweat and frostbite translates to a movie as epic as the P.S. I Love You A-lister’s behind-the-scenes stories. Fans of the Dragon franchise and Gerard Butler’s action-packed résumé won’t want to miss it when the film roars into theaters on June 13, 2025. While you wait, consider revisiting the OG animated How to Train Your Dragon, which is available to stream with a Max subscription.

Some of our best horror movies have been centered around characters who just so happen to be legendary creatures of the night: vampires. And, because of the enduring popularity of these mythological bloodsuckers, not only do we also have a number of TV vamps, but many famous actors who’ve portrayed some version of the famed, usually-human-looking beasts. Here for you now are 32 actors who’ve played a vampire.

Eddie Murphy (Vampire In Brooklyn)

So many vamps have been seen on screen that even a comedy and action movie legend like Eddie Murphy has played one. The 1995 horror comedy, Vampire in Brooklyn, saw the star play the last member of a group of Caribbean vampires, who hits New York to find a mate so that he can continue his family line.

Tom Cruise (Interview With The Vampire)

Who could forget the 1994 film that gave us Tom Cruise as the captivating and cruel (And blond!) bloodthirsty fiend, Lestat de Lioncourt, from author Anne Rice’s legendary novel series, The Vampire Chronicles? Of course, it also gave us Brad Pitt’s tortured vamp, Louis, and made a star out of young Kirsten Dunst.

Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse)

While there are some obvious stars to add to this list, let us not forget that the cast of famous (and soon-to-be-famous) vampires in The Twilight Saga films was quite stacked. That roster included noted child star Dakota Fanning, who portrayed the villainous Volturi guard member, Jane, who was able to mentally create sensations of pain in those who she deemed worthy of punishment.

Evan Rachel Wood (True Blood)

Several vampire-focused TV shows have hit the airwaves over the past 20 or so years, so we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the HBO hit, True Blood. Many of its stars portrayed members of vamp-kind for most or all of the series’ seven seasons, but Evan Rachel Wood made an equally impressive (bloody) splash as the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne Leclerq, during her recurring guest appearances in Seasons 2-4.

Robert Pattinson (Twilight)

Back to Twilight! It’s not worth mentioning this franchise without bringing up lead romantic vamp Edward Cullen, as well as the man who brought him to life in five movies, eventuall live action Batman actor Robert Pattinson. Despite the fact that his love interest’s portrayer, Kristen Stewart, would have dumped Edward “immediately”!

Chloë Grace Moretz (Let Me In)

It’s possible that we don’t get creepier than kid vampires in movies and television shows, and that’s what we got with Chloë Grace Moretz’s Abby in the 2010 film, Let Me In. She befriends a young loner after moving into his apartment complex, but is (you guessed it) hiding nefarious purposes he could have never guessed, which end up taking his life in a most unexpected direction.

Salma Hayek (From Dusk Till Dawn)

This might be the shortest movie vampire appearance on the list, as 1996’s From Dusk Til Dawn saw Salma Hayek play the fanged exotic dancer, Santanico Pandemonium, only for about five memorable minutes that simply cannot be forgotten once witnessed.

Taika Waititi (What We Do In The Shadows)

Undead life isn’t always filled with glamorous globe-hopping adventure, gorgeous mates who can’t resist you and other perks, at least according to 2014’s What We Do in the Shadows, which concerns the rather mundane day-to-day lives of vampire roommates, of whom Taika Waititi’s uptight and nearly 400-year-old vamp, Viago, is among.

Theo James (Underworld: Awakening, Underworld: Blood Wars)

Another big screen franchise that depended on heaps of stars to populate its supernatural world is that of Underworld. Two sequels saw Theo James play the heroic vampire, David, heir to one of the main vamp covens, and lead Selene’s one steadfast ally during an important time in her journey.

Willem Dafoe (Shadow Of The Vampire)

Not many cinematic vampires are said to be based on a real person, but the one played by Willem Dafoe in 2000’s Shadow of the Vampire is. He portrayed a fictionalized version of the real Nosferatu lead actor, Max Schreck, whom the crew begins to suspect is an actual vampire because of his behavior and the strange goings-on surrounding filming.

Gerard Butler (Dracula 2000)

Speaking of vampires who are based on real people…Author Bram Stoker based his Dracula on Vlad the Impaler, and Gerard Butler played yet another version of the ever-popular character in a film from, yes, 2000. This tale sees the ancient vamp accidentally awoken by a group of thieves who find and steal his highly protected coffin, which had been watched over by generations of the Van Helsing family.

Wesley Snipes (Blade)

A Marvel character that will soon have another portrayer when the upcoming Blade reboot finally begins filming, the original action/horror trilogy famously saw Wesley Snipes take on the vampire/human hybrid titular lead, who’s a nearly unstoppable vamp hunter bent on taking down all members of the species who bit his mother and infected him with their supernatural blood while he was still in utero.

Colin Farrell (Fright Night)

If a scary and suave undead night stalker is your type, look no further than Colin Farrell’s Jerry Dandrige in 2011’s remake of the 1985 cult classic, Fright Night. He may have to eventually do battle with a couple of teenagers, but he sure looks darn good doing it.

Ethan Hawke (Daybreakers)

A movie that takes a more science-fiction approach to a world overrun by vampires is the 2009 film Daybreakers, which sees Ethan Hawke play a vamp hematologist who refuses to drink human blood and is looking for a synthetic option to their usual meal of choice that will stop humanity from being wiped out by his more brutal peers.

Luke Evans (Dracula Untold)

Again with Dracula? Why, yes! This time, Luke Evans plays a Vlad the Impaler who only becomes a vampire to have the strength, speed and ferocity to turn back an invading army in an attempt to save the people of his kingdom. Does it work out for him? Well, yes…and no.

Kate Beckinsale (Underworld)

There’s no mentioning the Underworld franchise without giving respect to the main heroine, Kate Beckinsale’s Selene. In the first film she’s a vampire looking to destroy the werewolves that killed her family, but she ends up uncovering a major secret about the two sets of creatures and falling in love with a human, instead.

Alicia Silverstone (Vamps)

This 2012 horror comedy sees Alicia Silverstone play Goody, an old vampire who tries to stay young and hip while helping her much younger bloodsucking buddy, Stacy (Krysten Ritter), get used to her powers as they try to abstain from the red stuff during their immortal and unholy (sorta) lives.

Pedro Pascal (Bloodsucking Bastards)

Ever wondered what working in an office that was slowly being overrun by vampires who care as much about the bottom line as they do about drinking blood would be like? Just watch Bloodsucking Bastards, where beloved The Last of Us cast member Pedro Pascal begins turning his employees into the titular immortals.

Jim Carrey (Once Bitten)

Jim Carrey’s first leading role came in this 1985 comedy, where he played a teen virgin turned into a vampire by an alluring, 400-year-old creature of the night, who seduced him so she could use his blood to keep her youthful appearance.

Paul Reubens (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)

In the 1992 horror comedy that eventually led to the long-running series of the same name, the late Paul Reubens starred as Amilyn, a vamp doing the bidding of a much more powerful bloodsucker who’s ruling his kind in Los Angeles.

Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood)

While HBO’s True Blood was positively filled with the undead, few of them made as much of an impact on audiences (and the lead, Sookie) as Alexander Skarsgård’s cunning and alluring (but sorta evil) 1,000-year-old Eric Northman. This also happens to be the role that really made Skarsgård famous.

David Boreanaz (Buffy, Angel)

When it comes to popular TV vampires, no one can discount the reign of David Boreanaz as evil vamp turned heroic vamp (and then sometimes evil vamp again) Angel, whom he played on Buffy the Vampire Slayer beginning with the first episode in 1997, through wrapping his run on the fifth season series finale of his own show, Angel, in 2004.

Sterling K. Brown (Supernatural)

Sterling K. Brown may best be known now for delivering heartfelt emotions as Randall Pearson on This Is Us, but for four episodes across Seasons 2 and 3 of the CW mega-hit, Supernatural, he played Hunter and dedicated vamp-hater-turned-vampire, Gordon Walker, to astounding, understandably cold-blooded effect.

Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys)

Even though Kiefer Sutherland was certainly a star on the rise by the time he starred in The Lost Boys in 1987, his part as apparent vampire motorcycle gang leader David cemented his leading man qualities and turned him into a household name.

Rami Malek (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part II)

Sure, Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the best Rami Malek movies to watch, but let’s not discount his turn as the powerful (and ancient) Egyptian vampire, Benjamin, in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part II, one of the few creatures of the night in the franchise who can directly manipulate things, with his specialty being controlling fire, water, air and earth.

Bryce Dallas Howard (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse)

Yet another actor you may have forgotten was fanged in the expansive Twilight franchise is Jurassic World star Bryce Dallas Howard. She took over the role of evil, vengeful vamp Victoria (who’s looking to kill Bella in retaliation for Edward killing her love, James) from Rachelle Lefevre, for the third movie, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive)

As one half of the very old vampire couple at the center of the 2013 dramedy, Only Lovers Left Alive, Tilda Swinton is a wife forced to visit the husband (played by Tom Hiddleston) she’s long been separated from once she realizes his lengthy undead existence has begun to bring him down, as she tries to force him to reevaluate the value of living forever.

Bill Nighy (Underworld, Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans)

Every good vampire needs a parental figure to show them the ropes, and for Underworld’s Selene, that role was filled by Viktor, who was portrayed by Love, Actually star Bill Nighy. His Vampire Elder turned out to be more of a threat than the heroine ever expected, though, leading to some tense moments between Selene and her mentor.

Gary Oldman (Bram Stoker's Dracula) 

Back to Drac! One of the most popular films about the character is still 1992’s Bram Stoker's Dracula, which saw eventual Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban star Gary Oldman play Vlad Dracula.

Christopher Meloni (True Blood)

Where there is one vampire there are generally enough to have a whole hierarchy among their brethren, and as with the series True Blood, sometimes we get to see what that could look like. In Season 5, Law & Order: SVU and Organized Crime star Christopher Meloni portrayed the Guardian, Roman Zimojic, who led the Vampire Authority and (ostensibly) set the rules for all vamps. Many, however, didn’t agree with his desire to have his kind fit in with human society, which caused a lot of problems for the calm, determined and deadly when challenged leader.

Nicolas Cage (Renfield)

If you guessed that this is yet another Dracula story, well, you’re sort of correct. 2023’s horror comedy, Renfield, stars Nicholas Hoult as the count’s titular long-time familiar, who’s tired of helping him kill innocent people and all the abuse he’s taken from the being who gifted him with immortality, as well as super strength and speed (when he eats bugs) 90 years prior. So, he gets help from a support group for people in codependent relationships in order to be able to live his own life again. Nicolas Cage is our Dracula here, and he’s a perfectly winking one, who still manages to be creepy and deadly.

Johnny Depp (Dark Shadows)

Johnny Depp has become known for his outrageous characters, and his Barnabas Collins is no different. The 2012 Dark Shadows film (which was based on the 1966-1971 gothic daytime drama of the same name) follows Barnabas after he’s cursed with vampirism in 1760, buried alive in a coffin, and then accidentally freed in the early 1970s. He rejoins the Collins family at the estate they still hold, while trying to keep his true nature a secret, but hijinks ensue as his past comes back to haunt them. 

This, of course, is just a small sampling of the famous actors who've portrayed vampires over the years, but if you decide to do a vamp movie/TV show marathon, you can start right here and have hours of entertainment.

Stories about Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses have long been a Hollywood favorite. Sure, there are amazing fictional kings and queens like T’Challa in Black Panther and Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but this list is about the real ones. Historical depictions of some of the greatest, and worst, monarchs in world history. Kings like Henry VIII and Louis XIV. Queens like Elizabeth II and Victoria. Sure, the movies they appear in are not always the most historically accurate, but that doesn’t diminish the portrayals of royalty by these fine actors. 

Patrick McGoohan As King Edward I - Braveheart

Braveheart is far from the most historically accurate movie of all time, but one character that Mel Gibson and company at least got close to correct is Edward I, or Edward Longshanks, as he was known in the movie and at the time. He was a brutal, remorseless leader, and fought with the Scots for most of his reign. Patrick McGoohan’s performance of Edward is great, one of the real highlights of the movie. 

Judi Dench As Queen Elizabeth I - Shakespeare In Love

To be sure, Shakespeare In Love isn’t as loved today as it was when it was released in 1998. Its upset win for Best Picture at the 1999 Oscars over Saving Private Ryan is still questioned and the movie is often maligned unfairly. One reason it's unfair is Judi Dench’s fantastic performance as Queen Elizabeth I. 

Emily Blunt As Queen Victoria - The Young Victoria

Most of the images we see of Queen Victoria come from later her in her long reign, after Prince Albert died and the older queen was seen wearing black and looking dour. The Young Victoria is a fresh take, showing the queen, played by Emily Blunt, as young and vibrant. It wasn’t a huge hit in the United States, but it’s a really good movie, with a great performance by Blunt. 

Kenneth Branagh As King Henry V - Henry V

Kenneth Branagh has done more for Shakespeare in the modern age than anyone in Hollywood and the prime example is his portrayal of the titular king in Henry V. His delivery of the famous St. Crispin's Day speech is worth the price of admission alone. 

Colin Firth As King George VI - The King's Speech

Colin Firth’s performance and King George VI in The King’s Speech is as close to perfect as possible and well deserving of the Oscar he was awarded for it. Firth brilliantly plays both the reluctant king’s vulnerability and his strength. It’s a fine line to walk, as both are completely necessary to understand King George VI in full. 

Kirsten Dunst As Marie Antoinette - Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette is one of the most infamous royals of all time. The French queen is notorious in history for her aloof attitude towards the revolting French peasants during the French Revolution. The film Marie Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst as the titular queen, did wow audiences at first, but has since become one of Sofia Coppola’s most respected films, and with good reason. It’s a very modern movie telling an old story and Dunst’s performance enhances that perfectly. 

Elizabeth Taylor As Cleopatra - Cleopatra

Elizabeth Taylor’s performance in Cleopatra is one of the most iconic in Hollywood history. Though it deserves some criticism from more enlightened modern audiences, it doesn’t diminish the performance. Taylor is amazing and only a star like her could carry a movie on the scale and scope of Cleopatra. It’s a true Hollywood epic from the Golden Age of Hollywood and Taylor is as glamorous as any actor could be. 

Timothée Chalamet As King Henry V - The King

It’s not easy for any actor to step into one of Shakespeare’s best characters like Henry V in Henry V. This is a character that Laurence Olivier played on the silver screen for goodness sake!  Timothée Chalamet took the risk and it paid off for the actor and audiences in The King. The movie is a new take on Shakespeare’s plays,  taken from his four plays about historical English kings, so the pressure was on. Chalamet kills it in the movie, playing the role quite differently as others have, but it works for the updated version. 

Cate Blanchett As Queen Elizabeth I - Elizabeth

Elizabeth is a wonderful movie, anchored by a wonderful performance by Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I. Blanchett returned for a sequel, Elizabeth: A Golden Age which was a less-than-wonderful movie, but Blanchett was once again great. The performances in both set a new standard for the historical figure who has been portrayed often on film. 

Janet Suzman As Tsarina Alexandra - Nicholas And Alexandra

One of the most pivotal moments of the 20th Century was the overthrow and execution of Tsar Nicolas of Russia and his family by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. It’s a story that has rarely been told on film in the West, but Nicholas And Alexandra is the rare exception. It’s a good movie, with a great Oscar-nominated performance by Janet Suzman.

Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi As King Cetshwayo - Zulu

Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi is not a professional actor, and the great 1964 film Zulu is his only appearance. His role as King Cetshwayo is also not a large one, but he makes this list because one, he was an actual Zulu chief in South Africa, and two, he was the son of the man he plays. King Cetshwayo who led the Zulu Kingdom at the time of the war depicted in the movie, so while the part was not big, it’s important to have it on this list. 

Jonathan Rhys Meyers As King Henry VIII - The Tudors

One of the most popular depictions of royalty on screen in the last couple of decades has to be Jonathan Rhys Meyers As King Henry VIII in The Tudors. Meyers plays a young, dashing version of the king that most people know from his later portraits, looking less healthy than the king was as a young man. Henry VIII is one of the most notorious kings in English history and Meyers shows why, but also plays him as anti-hero we all kind of love. 

Helen Mirren As Queen Elizabeth II - The Queen

Helen Mirren's performance as Queen Elizabeth in the Queen is everything you would expect, as the The Dame plays the role with respect, but with with a toughness that the queen was known for behind closed doors. 

Sean Connery As King Richard - Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves

We couldn’t make this list without one of the most famous cameos of all time. It’s one of the shorter roles on the list, but Sean Connery’s surprise appearance as King Richard at the end of Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves shocked and delighted audiences. In real life, King Richard spent almost none of his time on the island of Great Britain, preferring to remain in Aquitaine in France, so it’s a bit of a stretch that he would be at a wedding in England, but no matter, he makes everyone smile. 

Trine Dyrholm As Queen Margrete - Margrete: Queen Of The North

Margaret I of Denmark is one of the most important monarchs in European history, to say nothing of her being a woman in power in the Middle Ages, which was very rare. Her story is well known in Scandinavia, but less known in the United States. That’s even more reason to watch the Danish movie Margrete: Queen Of The North, along with Trine Dyrholm’s performance of the queen. 

Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton As Queen Elizabeth II - The Crown

How do you put only one of the three women who played Queen Elizabeth II on The Crown with such aplomb on this list? You can’t, so all three, Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton all make it. Each one brought their own panache to the role of the now-legendary queen who we lost in 2022. Foy and Coleman both won Emmys for the role and Staunton was nominated in 2023. It’s three fantastic performances by three wonderful actresses. They even got to act together at the end. 

Nigel Hawthorne As King George III - The Madness Of King George

King George III is most famous in the United States for being the king we fought a revolution against. While he is considered one of the greatest kings in English history, he also had a severe undiagnosed mental illness that affected him later in life. It’s that part of his life that The Madness Of King George is about. It’s a hard role to play, but Nigel Hawthorne nails the role. 

Leonardo DiCaprio As King Louis XIV - The Man In The Iron Mask

There are surprisingly few portrayals of King Louis XIV of France in English-language cinema, despite the Sun King being one of the most consequential monarchs in European history. The most notable one is a fictionalized version of King Louis by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Man In The Iron Mask.

Vanessa Kirby, Helena Bonham Carter, and Lesley Manville As Princess Margaret - The Crown

One of the best achievements of The Crown (among many) was the show’s casting. The three actors who played Princess Margaret, Vanessa Kirby, Helena Bonham Carter, and Lesley Manville, all did an amazing job. You can’t pick one of the next because they all simply nailed the tragedy and triumph of the princess in the shadow of her older sister, Queen Elizabeth II. 

Olivia Coleman As Queen Anne - The Favourite

Olivia Coleman is great at playing royalty on screen, even when it’s a wildly fictionalized and weird version of Queen Anne like she does in The Favourite. The movie is very loosely based on history but is very much representative of director Yorgos Lanthimos’ style. So while Coleman may not be playing Queen Anne exactly as she was, it’s still a downright amazing performance. 

Natalie Dormer As Anne Boleyn - The Tudors

Natalie Dormer is perfectly cast as Anne Boleyn in The Tudors. She’s beautiful, yet vulnerable, coy, yet determined, and sweet, yet conniving. Boleyn is one of the most tragic queens in English history and it’s hard to picture anyone but Dormer playing her after she starred in this show. 

Richard Harris As King Arthur - Camelot

We could argue all day about how “real” King Arthur was. More myth than man in English folklore, there isn’t even consensus on whether he existed at all. But no matter, Richard Harris’ portrayal of the legend in Camelot is still worthy of mention on this list because it’s so darn good and so darn iconic. 

Oliver Dimsdale As King Edward VIII - Downton Abbey

In the finale of Season 4 of Downton Abbey, audiences meet Edward VIII when he is still Prince of Wales, before becoming king and before his abdication shocked the world. Though it’s not the biggest role, Oliver Dimsdale instantly gives you a sense of exactly who the future Duke of Windsor was, a conniving womanizer who really wasn't fit to be king. 

Katharine Hepburn As Eleanor Of Aquitaine - The Lion In Winter

It’s hard to understand why The Lion In Winter isn’t as remembered as other movies from the late ‘60s, because Katharine Hepburn's performance as Eleanor Of Aquitaine, the queen of England in the 12th Century, is amazing. She even took home an Oscar for it. 

Sean Bean as Odysseus - Troy

In the original theatrical version of Troy, Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, played by Sean Bean, doesn’t have all that big of a role. He’s a scene-stealer though. In the director’s cut, which makes for a much better movie, the role is expanded. Plus, it's a rare movie that Sean Bean doesn’t die in. 

Sigourney Weaver as Queen Isabella I - 1492: Conquest Of Paradise

There’s no way around this: 1492: Conquest Of Paradise is not a good movie. It’s historically inaccurate and celebrates Christopher Columbus a little too much while ignoring a lot of his atrocities. Still, Sigourney Weaver, while slightly miscast, does a phenomenal job with what she’s given to do as Queen Isabella I of Spain, Columbus’ benefactor. 

Tadanobu Asano As Genghis Khan - Mongol

If this was a list of the worst performances of royalty, John Wayne’s offensive and terrible version of Genghis Khan in The Conqueror would be at the top of the list. On the flip side, we have the Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano as the Mongolian king in Mongol. It’s not the most widely-known movie, as it’s a Russian production in Mandarin and Mongolian. It’s worth your time and effort to seek it out though, it’s fantastic. 

Judi Dench As Queen Victoria - Mrs. Brown

Is there a role out there that Dame Judi Dench doesn’t nail? That’s a rhetorical question, of course, and her performance as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown is certainly no exception. Though the actual history in the movie is dubious at best, putting that aside and enjoying the movie is easy with Dench as the recently widowed queen. 

Gerard Butler As Leonidas - 300

Of all the movies in this movie that stretch the true stories to their max, 300 wins in that category. Still, Gerard Butler’s portrayal of Leonidas is a fan-favorite for good reason. Sure, it’s mostly because he looks so darn good, but the movie is fun, exciting, and completely unique, so we’ll allow for a little historical nonsense. 

Richard Harris As Marcus Aurelius - Gladiator

Another movie on this list that takes a lot of liberties with its historical accuracy, Gladiator basically changes everything about Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) and Commodus’ (Joaquin Phoenix) real-life father/son relationship. But both Phoenix and Harris are fantastic in their roles, so again, we’ll allow it. 

Peter O'Toole As Henry II - The Lion In Winter

The Lion in Winter has a few excellent portrayals of royalty. Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Timothy Dalton as King Philip of France, and Anthony Hopkins as a young Richard The Lionhearted. Of course, the lead in the film, Peter O’Toole as Henry II is the lead for a reason. In a career filled with amazing performances, this is one of O’Toole’s best and resulted in one of his eight Best Actor nominations. 

Chris Pine As Robert The Bruce - Outlaw King

Robert The Bruce has been portrayed in a few films, probably most famously by Angus Macfadyen in Braveheart. While that performance is great, Outlaw King, with Chris Pine in the lead role, is a more historically accurate version of the story of Robert fighting the English and rising to King of the Scots. 

Audiences have always been fascinated by the lives of monarchs worldwide, and that is not likely to change anytime soon. We’ll continue to see great portrayals of royalty in entertainment for a long time to come. 

As the world of 2024 movies continues to unfold, the remake of How to Train Your Dragon is something that fans and spectators alike will be keeping a keen eye on. News surrounding the movie, set to release on June 13, 2025, has been proceeding on a steady track of development. Part of the fire surrounding those developments is the casting of the major roles present in director Dean DeBlois' live-action remake. 

You can now follow the path that How to Train Your Dragon is taking to returning to the big screen thanks to this handy cast list. So make sure to come back to this very rundow, and see who else has joined the ranks. For now, here's who we currently know has been cast in this Universal/DreamWorks live-action remake! 

Gerard Butler

In the 2010 version of How to Train Your Dragon, Gerard Butler played the role of Stoick the Vast. Chieftain of Berk, as well as father to Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Stoick balances parenting and leadership as a single father. So leave it to returning director Dean DeBlois to recruit his previous collaborator to reprise the role. 

A veteran of some of the best action movies like Olympus Has Fallen, not to mention dramas in the vein of Kandahar and Greenland, Gerard Butler will probably be able to put both skill sets to work in How to Train Your Dragon’s remake. Though if Stoick the Vast's character design from animation translates to the real world, the former Spartan of 300 won't have to stay as ripped as he did in that previous picture.

At the moment, Butler’s casting in DreamWorks’ live-action remake marks the only cast member from the animated incarnation to return for flesh and blood version of their character. Which certainly makes for an interesting question pertaining to casting other important characters in potential sequels. 

Nick Frost

Every chieftain needs a trusted advisor, and in the universe built by author Cressida Cowell’s source material, Gobber the Belch is that person. Within the live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon, that post will be fulfilled by an actor more than suited to play a warrior who dispenses wisdom and wisecracks, Nick Frost. 

In this post, the former zombie hunter from Shaun of the Dead will be teaching the next generation of Berk how to take on a different foe: dragons. Well, that's in addition to also acting as the sounding board for his friend Stoick, as well as being the village blacksmith. So there's no shortage of angles for Mr. Frost to take in his performance.

Previously, Nick Frost was also Doctor Who’s Santa Claus in the episode “Last Christmas,” as well as the on-screen father of the WWE’s Sariya (Florence Pugh) in Stephen Merchant’s Fighting with My Family. In the animated world of How to Train Your Dragon, the role of Gobber was played by talk show host/comedian Craig Ferguson. 

Mason Thames

Admittedly, the roles of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Astrid Hofferson were two of the parts How to Train Your Dragon would automatically have to recast. That’s nothing against their previous voice actors, but when it comes to live-action, nailing your character’s age is way more important than in an animated context. 

So a new actor needed to step in to play the young man who forms a lasting bond with Toothless the Dragon and tries to convince his community to bond with these creatures. Tapped for the duties to play Jay Baruchel’s central hero from the animated How to Train Your Dragon is none other than The Black Phone’s Mason Thames. 

While the live-action Hiccup is set to also return to The Black Phone 2’s cast, a film that’s also set to debut in June 2025, there’s a good chance that Mason’s schedule is already set to tackle both of these Universal-backed projects. And with both movies on the books, Thames will continue to build a resume as a young hero ready for anything. 

Nico Parker

America Ferrera previously gave life to Astrid Hofferson through the How to Train Your Dragon animated universe. However, much like Mr. Baruchel, she now has a successor to her animated role. Ms. Ferrera’s recent thoughts on Dragon’s remake included her approval and excitement of actor Nico Parker’s casting as the new Astrid. 

Parker comes from an acting background that’s more than prepared her for interacting with CGI creations, in addition to dealing with a landscape of peril. She was previously seen in the 2019 live-action remake of Disney’s Dumbo, which covers the interactions she’ll be having with Toothless and other dragons. Dragons and elephants aren't that dissimilar if you ask the right Game of Thrones character. 

Which, in its own way, leads to the peril bit. Seeing as Nico Parker was also notably cast as Sarah, the ill-fated daughter of Joel (Pedro Pascal) seen in HBO’s The Last of Us, tension-filled situations are also part of her set of skills. Which now presents the question of which threat is the more pressing matter: dragons or Cordyceps-transformed humans?

Julian Dennison

The dragon nerd of the lot,  Fishlegs Ingerman probably knows more about dragons than most people have forgotten. Voiced by Christopher Mintz-Plasse in the original How to Train Your Dragon films, the live-action remake has cast Godzilla vs. Kong’s Julian Dennison in the new iteration of the character. Dragons may be a bit smaller scale than Titans of the MonsterVerse, but Dennison has once again landed a role where he has the knowledge that could save the day.

Gabriel Howell

As the posturing jerk of the group, Snotlout Jorgenson loves to talk a big game while pushing people around. In the animated world, Jonah Hill embodied this role in the fabric of Berk’s society; so it’s important to find someone else that can match that pedigree. Relative newcomer Gabriel Howell will be stepping up to take that mantle, after most recently being seen in the Netflix limited mystery series Bodies. 

Bronwyn James

Half of the Thorston twins duo is a girl by the name of Ruffnut, who more than lives up to that imposing moniker. Taking over this role in How to Train Your Dragon’s live-action remake is actor Bronwyn James, inheriting the role from its previous occupant, SNL vet Kristen Wiig. James can be seen in streaming series like Hulu’s Harlots, as well as Netflix’s Lockwood and Co.

Harry Trevaldwyn

The other half of the Thorston twins, Tuffnut is just as strong as his sister, making the two a formidable team that can handle any two-headed dragons in operation. Bringing up the other half of this notable team is The Bubble’s Harry Trevaldwyn, who is taking over after this part saw comedian T.J. Miller voicing the character in the original trilogy.

Ruth Codd

Playing Phlegma the Fierce, previously voiced by Ashley Jensen, Ruth Codd will be making her feature film debut through the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon. Confirmed through reporting by THR, Codd is probably best known by audiences as Juno Usher from Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher. However, she’s also been seen in another Mike Flanagan Netflix series, The Midnight Club, as well as a part of the cast to Shudder’s Creepshow anthology series.

As production on How to Train Your Dragon continues to push towards fulfilling its June 2025 release date, there’s bound to be more additions to the cast that will astound and surprise. So while this is all the information we have for now, we’ll be keeping our eyes to the sky to see what else flies into view in the near future. 

It's an especially interesting prospect considering the rest of the young cast is waiting to be revealed to an eager fandom. There's a lot of young talent out there that could be perfect to complete the class of Dragon Riders that'll take this vision into a new age of adventure; and they're all just waiting to be discovered! 

In the meantime, Toothless and Hiccup will be return, in their new CGI/live-action forms, starting June 13, 2025. So if you want to get reacquainted with How to Train Your Dragon's animated incarnation, you can currently do so through several streaming platforms. At the time of this writing, a Peacock subscription will help you start things off, as the 2010 animated original is streaming there. 

Warning: SPOILERS for Kandahar are in play. If you haven’t seen Gerard Butler’s action-drama just yet, you’ve been warned. 

Nothing beats a proper, practical explosion. Some of the best action movies are built on that truth, resulting in record-setting feats that still wow the crowd to this day. Former stuntman-turned-filmmaker Ric Roman Waugh is a guy who understands that spectacle and loves delivering real action in movies like his latest team up with Gerard Butler, Kandahar. This time out, the director’s hunger for real action gave the man a hell of a story to tell, as Waugh filmed an explosion so huge, it actually shook a nearby airport.

The Practical Explosion In Kandahar That Shook A Nearby Airport

Towards the end of Kandahar, CIA operative Tom Harris (Gerard Butler) and his interpreter Mohammad Doud (Navid Negahban) are making a run for their lives. Trying to outfox several factions that are trying to kill them, the two partners try to make their way to the airfield that holds their ride out of enemy territory. Just when things look their bleakest, a powerful missile strike wipes out their pursuers, clearing the way for a safe passage. 

Just in case anyone had any question about whether or not that scene was practically done, Ric Roman Waugh addressed that concern outright. As I spoke with him over a Zoom call on behalf of the film’s theatrical release, Ric laid out a good portion of the strategy that allowed him to capture such a gigantic and impressive feat. 

Here’s what Kandahar’s director told CinemaBlend when asked about the sequence that, in his opinion, couldn’t have been captured anywhere but Saudi Arabia: 

The “Joe” mentioned above is Kandahar’s special effects supervisor Joe Pancake, who did indeed work on the 2001 historical drama centered on that day of infamy from World War II. Considering director Michael Bay believes Pearl Harbor should have earned a Guinness World Record for its explosions, Pancake’s credentials as an expert in explosive action are more than valid.

Pancake is also a fellow veteran of the Ric Roman Waugh films Snitch and Greenland. So that relationship probably brought a special shorthand that came in handy when planning this big boom of cinema. Which is good to know, considering that Kandahar’s finale centerpiece could have been pretty lethal if not executed properly. 

How Kandahar’s Massive Explosions Could Have Generated Real Danger

As mentioned before, four kilometers away from where Ric Roman Waugh was shooting with Gerard Butler and the rest of the Kandahar crew, there was an actual working airport. That very fact made the planning and communication around this feat all the more important, as Waugh explained further along in our conversation:

Even with the best communications in place, the surprise and shock of the entire airport shaking as a result of practical explosions sounds like it was still quite a surprise for some. Thankfully, no one was hurt and no mishaps occurred during Kandahar’s explosive business, further showcasing Ric Roman Waugh’s knowledge as an experienced stunt performer coming into play in his directing era. That sort of attitude also explains why Waugh has such a fixation on including as many practical action as possible in his pictures.

The Importance Of Practical Action To Ric Roman Waugh

In our discussion about why practical stunts make more sense in a movie like Kandahar, Ric Roman Waugh made it abundantly clear that realism and stakes are valued components in his projects. If a car drops out of a plane from an unreasonable height, that driver’s dead, plain and simple. 

Harkening back to his core beliefs as a creator, Waugh nailed this point to the door of his own filmmaking church, while also praising Gerard Butler as a collaborator, as follows: 

There’s going to be more opportunities for this director to blow things up with his recurring leading man safely in the line of fire thanks to the sequels Night Has Fallen and Greenland: Migration currently on the books. That last film mentioned is particularly of note, as its sale made a huge splash at 2021's Cannes Virtual Market; though from what we know about Greenland 2,  there still isn't an official release date or production plan in place. 

The same can be said for the latest Mike Banning adventure, which is probably a bummer for Has Fallen franchise super fan Robert Downey Jr. But much like a well-planned practical explosion, timing is everything, along with a heaping helping of patience. 

While we may not know when to expect either of those Gerard Butler follow-ups,  you can still see the latest action dance that Butler and Waugh have committed to film, as Kandahar is currently showing in theaters. And for all other movie-related inquiries for the rest of the year, our schedule of 2023 new movie releases has that information ready to go whenever you are. 

January isn’t a month where studios tend to release big franchise films or movies that are expected to become franchise films. And yet, that’s apparently what has happened with the inventively titled Plane. The action movie starring Gerard Butler and Mike Colter is getting a surprise sequel, despite the fact that it’s barely made money. Even more surprising, the movie won’t star Gerard Butler, though it will have an equally impressive title. It’s being called Ship. No, really.

In news that I would honestly call an April Fools joke if it came out any closer to April, Deadline is reporting that Mike Colter is set to star in the movie Ship, which will follow his character from Plane, escaped convict Louis Gaspare. The new film is set to pick up immediately following the events of Plane, with Colter's character escaping the Philippines by ship, and finding a new situation to be dealt with.

It's a somewhat surprising bit of news because, while Plane received solid critical reviews, it has only grossed $43 million on a $35 million budget. When marketing costs are added one has to assume that if Plane has turned a profit, it's not much of one, though the movie's theatrical run isn't quite dead. When we see a sequel given the greenlight this fast it's usually following blockbuster box office business.

The most significant thing about the first movie seemed to be the decision to simply call the movie Plane, which, while not technically inaccurate, doesn't really give a potential viewer many details about what sort of movie it would be out of context. It seems, however, that the powers that be have decided that the simple titles are now part of the franchise brand since the sequel is literally being called Ship. One assumes, if this becomes a trilogy, we can look forward to the final movie, Train.

Part of the explanation may be that Ship has a strong possibility of being an even cheaper production than Plane. Gerard Butler isn't expected to play a major role in the sequel. He may appear, but won't be a main character according to the report. Perhaps he remembers the rough experience he had filming Plane. As such, whatever portion of the $35 million budget was his salary, may drop significantly, though new cast members are being sought.

According to the report, Ship will see Mike Colter's character stowaway on a ship bound for South Africa as he attempts to make his escape following the events in Plane. The rescue of the passengers, and the escape of accused murderer Gaspare, have made international news, requiring him to lay low. Unfortunately, he's chosen the wrong ship and finds himself on board a vessel involved in human trafficking. 

While Plane hasn't blown the world away it was a solid little action movie that those that saw it seemed to like, so the odds are decent that we'll get something similar out of Ship.

Romantic comedies: They’re not supposed to be dangerous! This isn’t Tom Cruise driving a motorcycle off of a European cliff so he can transition into a base jump. It’s Sandra Bullock having a meet-cute with Keanu Reeves, or Julia Roberts falling for Hugh Grant at a bookstore in Notting Hill. That’s what makes the list of the Best Romantic Comedies of all time. However, Gerard Butler will tell you a story about the time that he almost killed Hilary Swank while the two of them worked on a rom-com, proving that sometimes, blood has to be spilt in order to earn a loved one’s heart. 

The movie in question is P.S. I Love You, an otherwise forgettable romantic comedy from 2007. Gerard Butler plays a recently deceased man who has left behind a series of letters for his widow (Hilary Swank) to find, helping her through her grief. A very sweet premise. But while appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show to promote his action-thriller Plane, he told a story about a scene that went horribly awry, and sent Swank to the hospital. Butler said:

I searched online for the clip in question, and found one of Gerard Butler in suspenders, but there was no dancing. It also seemed relatively harmless, which is not how he remembered it. He went on to tell Drew Barrymore:

Brutal. Totally unintentional! But still brutal. The movie didn’t really suffer from the devastation. We gave P.S. I Love You a decent grade in our official review. And Butler kept making movies, many of which are available to stream right now (though some of them, you might want to avoid). In the moment, however, Gerard Butler thought he was finished. He concluded to Barrymore, making her howl with laughter:

Making movies is really hard, folks. And occasionally dangerous, even on the ones that you don’t assume would be. Gerard Butler shared scarier stories from his time filming Plane, an action thriller that we’d assume causes bodily harm, at least according to the movie’s trailer. Then there was that time the actor ate raw chicken on a movie set. Never let it be said Butler can’t be Method. But in this case, an accident led to a bloody Hilary Swank, and Butler had a scary story to tell on daytime television. 

Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Plane. If you have yet to watch the latest Gerard Butler action flick, please disembark from the aircraft before the doors close.

I will be the first to admit, I like Gerard Butler movies way more than anyone should. I’ve always been a big supporter of his work – even before he became a go-to action star over the last decade or so – but the simple yet fun and enjoyable movies like Olympus Has Fallen, Geostorm, and a personal favorite of mine, Greenland just resonate with me for some reason. 

When I first saw the trailer for Plane, his latest action vehicle, a few months ago, I told my wife: “I’m seeing this movie,” to which she responded with something like “Oh, don’t let me get in the way.”

Fast forward a couple of months, here I am having watched Plane opening weekend (I was one of four devoted fans in the audience), and do I have some thoughts about this one. This was a turbulent trip I won’t soon forget. 

The Pairing Of Gerard Butler And Mike Colter Is Great

While I wouldn’t consider Plane to be a buddy action movie, the pairing of Gerard Butler’s commercial pilot Brodie Torrance and Mike Colter’s wanted fugitive Louis Gaspare is at the heart of Jean-Francois Richet’s latest directorial effort. The bond shared by the two leads in the Plane cast is one that is built up by a need for redemption – Torrance was put on the “shit-tier” flights after choking out a passenger years earlier, Gaspare is accused of killing someone 15 years ago – which adds some depth to the characters.

Sure, there’s a lot of badassery like slitting throats, choking dudes out in the jungle, and mowing down insurgents with semi-automatic rifles, but the emotional bond shared by these two is great and makes them feel more realized than they’d be otherwise.

The Action Movie Tropes Are Ridiculous And Ridiculously Fun

Here’s the thing, I’m a sucker for action movie tropes. And just like I did with Moonfall and its various glorious offenses this time last year, I’m doing the same with Plane, just on a much smaller scale. I mean, this movie has a little bit of everything: a disgraced hero looking for redemption, vehicles defying the laws of gravity and logic (especially when it comes to the plane taking off in the final act), unlimited ammo, bulletproof protagonists, the annoying rich businessman (played expertly by Joey Slotnick), and a lawless setting where not even the military will go. 

Yeah, these are all ridiculous, but they are all also ridiculously fun, and prove that the movie is never above making fun of itself for the enjoyment of the audience. There were laughs,  groans, and groaning laughs throughout.

I Was Not Expecting A Rambo (2008) Level Of Violence

When I first learned that Plane had received an R-rating, I thought there would be some heavy cussing, a lot of shooting, and one or two gnarly death scenes; I wasn’t expecting a level of violence that is up there with the 2008 Rambo movie (the one where Sylvester Stallone pretty much rips out a dude’s jugular). I’m not going to lie, there were a few times where I squirmed in my chair and mouthed “mother of god” from some of the violent kills.

There are decapitations, throats being slit, and an escape scene where a mercenary group hired by Trailblazer Airlines to rescue the passengers sees a private contractor shoot the bad guys with a sniper rifle so big the shots throw the targets into the air. The scene that takes the cake for me, however, is a one-on-one fight between Gerard Butler’s character and an insurgent that ends with Butler cracking the guy’s neck. And due to me buying a ticket to the closed caption screening, this moment included the text “bones cracking” across the screen during the fateful moment.

Please Tell Me I’m Not The Only One Who Thinks There Is A Con Air Reference In Plane

It is easy to see the comparisons between Plane and the iconic 1997 action flick Con Air, especially with both movies centering on a supposedly dangerous criminal being transported through the not so friendly skies. And while the two movies end up not having all that much in common with one another besides being over-the-top action flicks, there is one scene that I am certain is a reference to the Nicolas Cage classic. 

Remember the scene in Con Air where Cage’s Cameron Poe leaves a message on Dave Chappelle’s dead body to let the authorities know they have a friend on the plane? Well, in Plane, Gerard Butler leaves a message on his uniform to let his potential rescuers know where to find the hostages. I could be overthinking this whole situation, but please let this be a conscious decision and not a coincidence. I need this. 

Can We Get More Action Movies That Are Under Two Hours?

While it may be true that some of the best action movies of all time do well with a long run time, it doesn’t always need to be the case, and in fact, there are some films that should be a lot shorter. I think this is one of the reasons I enjoyed Plane as much as I did. Clocking in at one hour and 47 minutes, the movie doesn’t waste all that much time getting into the air, and never really lets off the gas until the credits roll.

This means I was able to catch a 7:30 p.m. showing, sit through 20-plus minutes of trailers, watch the movie, stop on my way home to pick up pull-ups for my kid, and pull into my garage before the 10 o’clock news. I honestly wish more movies would follow this route.

I Already Have A Wish List For Plane 2

We’ll have to wait and see if Lionsgate ends up giving Plane 2 permission to take off at some point in the future, but I do have a few items on my wish list in the event the Gerard Butler action flick gets a sequel. 

Here are a few of them now:

• Brodie Torrance is put back on the “hot-shit” routes to New York, Paris, London, etc., and ends up having to save another downed plane.
• Louis Gaspere rejoins the French Foreign Legion and ends up receiving a distress call from his buddy, Brodie.
• Scarsdale (Tony Goldwyn) is put into the field and teams up with Brodie and Louis because this guy is cool as a cucumber and gives off the impression that he’s seen some serious shit
• It’s discovered Trailblazer Airlines isn’t just negligent with its dated planes, but instead hoping for a disaster to pull some kind of scheme

All in all, watching Plane was an enjoyable experience. Was it the best movie I’ve seen? No. Was it the worst? Far from it. If other movies on the 2023 release schedule are just as fun, however, it’s going to be a great year at the cinema.

Gerard Butler has been holding down the fort for action movies for the last decade or so with offerings like Geostorm and the Has Fallen franchise. While he’s been a reliable action hero, the superhero genre has really frequently been dominating the action field courtesy of stars like Robert Downey Jr. Despite the MCU’s dominance, Downey Jr. has been a low-key fan of Butler’s Olympus movies. The former MCU star took his love for the movies even further by sending the Plane star a sweet email of support.

Butler brought up the sweet moment while speaking with Uproxx about his latest action flick Plane. Following the Plane trailer's release and just ahead of this weekend's theatrical release, the frequent action star spoke about his character, pilot Brodie Torrance, being a real-life hero compared to the typical DC and Marvel superheroes. While superheroes have remained a consistent force, the Hollywood star spoke to Downey Jr. showing his support for more traditional action flicks in a lovely email.

So, RDJ is an action film head just like a lot of his audiences. Showing his support for Butler and the Has Fallen movies harkened back to his days as a New York kid watching movies in the cinema. Butler’s Mike Banning has remained a stabilizing force throughout the films. The intense testosterone, non-stop action sequences, and high stakes recalled the heyday of 1980s and 1990s action icons Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis.

The Olympus franchise has connected with moviegoers as the series has grossed over $523 million worldwide. There is currently a fourth film, Night Has Fallen, in development with Butler and director Ric Roman Waugh set to return following the former's lawsuit over underpaid wages against Olympus' home, Millennium Films. It is currently unknown when production will start or when the third flick will hit the movie release schedule. There are two more sequels and a TV spinoff reportedly being developed as well. Plus, the Angel Has Fallen star will keep the action train going by starring in the upcoming thriller Kandahar.

As you wait for Mike Banning’s theatrical return, check out the Has Fallen franchise across different streaming platforms. Olympus Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen are currently available through a Hulu subscription. London Has Fallen is available for viewing through a Netflix subscription. In the meantime, you can catch Gerard Butler in Plane, which is currently in theaters.

Gerard Butler has never been one to stray away from danger while filming one of his action flicks. Remember this is the same guy who had someone inject him with bee venom during the filming of Geostorm. Well, while working on his new movie Plane, the Scottish actor experienced “burning alive” after accidentally pouring acid on his face.

Action films had a way of dominating the big screen during the 1990s which we see less of due to the Star Wars and superhero craze. Well, Gerard Butler is an actor contributing very well to the action genre today even managing to knock out the Oscar-baited film Blonde off Netflix’s #1 spot three days after its release. While speaking on The Late Night Show with Seth Meyers, Butler talked about the terrifying experience of feeling like he was “burning alive” during the set of Plane while attempting to repair a faulty brake in one of the aircrafts before take-off. 

All of this trouble for the sake of pretending to know how to fix a plane for his new movie. So fortunate there was no permanent damage involved. It also doesn’t help that filming took place during one of the hottest days in Puerto Rico. Not only was the Olympus Has Fallen star drenched in blood and acid, he was also pretty sweaty too during the ordeal. This action star continued to talk about how excruciating this on-set moment was for him.

The tension increased when a debate among the crew followed about what to do to get the substance off. Some said to wash his face while others said that would make it worse. While Butler never says how exactly he recovered from the incident, hopefully he followed what the CDC says which is to wash your face immediately and seek medical attention. Clearly, the 300 actor is dedicated to his craft and doesn’t regret the experience if it made his performance believable for the big screen.

In the trailer for Plane, Gerard Butler plays a pilot making an emergency landing in a hostile territory and feeling no choice but to team up with a convicted murderer who was on the plane, played by Evil’s Mike Coulter, to save his passengers. Serving as the film’s star and co-producer, Butler told Seth Meyers that he wanted this movie to feel like a throwback to action films that starred box office champs like Harrison Ford and Bruce Willis. Other things we know about this action movie is that Inner City's Jean-François Richet will be directing it. The screenplay was based on an original story written by British spy fiction writer Charles Cumming and co-written by Fighting Tommy Riley’s J.P. Davis. Based on Plane’s trailer, it looks like Butler and Coulter will be an unstoppable force taking down enemy captors with action violence similar to what we’d find in a classic Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. 

Gerard Butler being able to survive a toxic acid pouring while on the set of Plane proves that he’s just as strong as the characters he plays. You can watch him kick some serious ass in the 2023 release of Plane coming to theaters on January 13th.

Over the course of the past decade or so, Gerard Butler has become one of the most prolific action stars of his time, turning out moderately successful but incredibly fun movies like Greenland, Geostorm, and Olympus Has Fallen (and its multiple sequels). No one is arguing for any of these to be included on the list of the best action movies of all time, they’re still a fun way to spend a couple of hours watching Butler race against time to save his family, the President of the United States, or even the world. These movies, on top of featuring enjoyable action set pieces and familial drama, also boast talented casts.

Both of those trends continue with the latest addition to Butler’s filmography, the Jean-François Richet-directed action flick, Plane, which sees the 300 star team up with Luke Cage’s Mike Colter to save a group of passengers from a militia in the South Pacific. If you’re wanting to know where you’ve seen the Plane cast after watching them in action, look no further.

Gerard Butler (Brodie Torrance)

Let’s start things off with the captain of the Plane cast, Gerard Butler, who leads the movie as commercial pilot and all-around badass, Brodie Torrance.

As mentioned in the introduction, Butter has spent the past decade and change leading one action movie after another, but the Scottish actor and producer has done a lot on screen besides run around, shoot guns, and lose and regain his accent. Prior to becoming a driving force in Hollywood with his portrayal of King Leonidas in the 2007 Zack Snyder movie, 300, Butler found success with roles in films like The Phantom of the Opera, Dear Frankie, Reign of Fire, and Dracula 2000. Butler also had a brief appearance in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, a.k.a. Pierce Brosnan’s best 007 movie. 

Mike Colter (Louis Gaspare)

Next up on this breakdown of the cast is Mike Colter, who takes on the role of accused murderer Louis Gaspare, who, as seen in the movie’s trailer, isn’t as bad as he’s made out to be by the feds, and becomes Brodie’s main ally in his quest to save the passengers.

Colter, best known to comic book fans as Luke Cage from Netflix’s collection of (now cancelled) Marvel shows (Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Defenders), Colter is also remembered from his appearances on series like The Good Wife, American Horror Story, The Following, and for starring in Paramount+'s Evil. His film work is just as impressive with titles like Million Dollar Baby, Taking Chance, Extinction, Fatale, and South of Heaven being just some of his big-screen appearances over the years.

Yoson An (Dele)

Yoson An shows up in Plane as Dele, the first officer on Brodie’s flight when it is forced to make an emergency landing.

Prior to joining the Plane cast in late 2021, according to The Hollywood Reporter, An made a name for himself with his portrayal of Chen Honghui in the 2020 live-action Disney remake of Mulan. Over the years, An has also appeared in movies like Mortal Engines, The Meg, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. His TV appearances include The Luminaries, New Gold Mountain, and Dead Lucky, to name a few. 

Daniella Pineda (Bonnie)

Daniella Pineda joins the cast as Bonnie, the head flight attendant on the ill-fated jet, as first reported by Deadline back in August 2021.

Fans of the two most recent movies in the Jurassic World franchise will surely recognize Pineda from her portrayal of Zia Rodriguez. Her other film appearances include Mercy Black, Mr. Roosevelt, and Sleeping with Other People. Pineda has also had a successful TV career, including roles on shows like The Vampire Diaries, The Detour, American Odyssey, and Cowboy Bebop prior to the show’s cancellation after just one season on Netflix. 

Paul Ben-Victor

Veteran actor Paul Ben-Victor shows up in Plane as Hampton, the owner of the airline whose plane was forced to make an emergency landing before its passengers were held hostage, per Deadline.

Throughout his career, Ben-Victor has appeared in movies like Tombstone, Daredevil, The Irishman, The Banker, and most recently, the Apple TV+ original film, Emancipation, starring Will Smith. A mainstay on the small screen, Ben-Victor has landed roles on shows like The X-Files, NYPD Blue, The Invisible Man, Monk, Entourage, The Wire, and the 2022 true crime dramedy series, Pam & Tommy. 

Remi Adeleke (Shellback)

Another one of the big Plane cast announcements made by THR in August 2021 was Remi Adeleke, who appears in the movie as Shellback, the leader of the mercenary team sent in to rescue the stranded hostages.

A former Navy Seal, Adeleke broke into the film and TV industry in 2017 with a role in Michael Bay’s Transformers: The Last Night and the CBS action-drama, SEAL Team. Since then, Adeleke has worked with Bay two more times, first with the 2019 Netflix movie 6 Underground and then three years later in Ambulance. Adeleke was also a member of the Terminal List cast in 2022, portraying Terrell “Tee” Daniel on the Amazon original series.

Lilly Krug (Brie) 

Lilly Krug appears in the cast as Brie, a social media influencer who has the misfortune of being on the aircraft when it comes crashing down.

Before joining the cast, which was announced by Deadline in August 2021, Krug worked on movies like Zero Contact, Shattered, Heart of Champions, and Every Breath You Take, to name only a few. She has also landed roles on German TV series such as Letzte Spur Berlin, Hubert ohne Staller, and De Leher during that same stretch of time. 

Joey Slotnick (Sinclair) 

Joey Slotnick shows up in Plane as Sinclair, a businessman who becomes one of the many hostages after the emergency landing.

If you watched movies or TV throughout the 1990s, then you have most likely seen Slotnick at least once or twice over the years. With appearances in A League of Their Own, Idle Hands, Pirates of Silicon Valley, and as a main player in 1996’s Twister, he was in a little bit of everything. That has continued in the decades since then, with Slotnick landing roles on shows like Nip/Tuck, Psych, and Blue Bloods. And who knows, maybe he’ll reprise his role as Joey in the 2024 Twister sequel, which is aptly titled, Twisters. 

Tony Goldwyn (Scarsdale)

And then there is Tony Goldwyn, who appears in Plane as Scarsdale, a former Special Forces officer who puts together the operation to save the captured passengers.

Prior to being added to the Plane cast in October 2011 (in the same Deadline report revealing Paul Ben-Victor’s casting), Goldwyn made a career out of doing a little bit of everything, ranging from the Friday the 13th horror franchise to voicing Tarzan in the 1999 animated Disney movie, and more recently, King Richard. Later in the summer, Goldwyn will show up in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer as just one member of the absurdly massive cast. 

Other members of the Plane cast like Evan Dane Taylor and Claro de los Reyes can be seen in action as the promising action movie is now playing in theaters nationwide. If you want to know what else is coming to the silver screen this year, check out our updated 2023 movie release schedule. 

 Over the course of the past decade or so, Gerard Butler has become one of the most prominent action stars, appearing in movies like Olympus Has Fallen (and its sequels – London Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen), Greenland, and Geostorm, to name only a few. Whether or not you're a fan of these movies, they obviously work, as Butler continues to lead one exciting and over-the-top action thriller after another. And that will continue with Plane, which honestly looks like one of the most fun movies on the 2023 release schedule.

Is this the first you’re hearing of Plane? Don’t worry, because we’re about to go through everything we know about the upcoming action flick, including its release date, cast, and story before breaking down its trailer. There’s a lot to cover in a short amount of time, so let's get this plane off the ground…

 Plane Will Be Released Theatrically On January 13, 2023

The final remnants of the 2022 movie release schedule will still be showing in theaters at the start of the new year when Plane takes flight onto the big screen, as the latest Gerard Butler action movie is set to premiere theatrically on January 13, 2023.

In November 2022, Deadline reported that the first major Lionsgate release of the new year was originally slated to hit theaters on January 27, 2022, but the studio elected to push the release up by two weeks, but no official reason was provided at the time. The last-minute move means Plane will open against the upcoming House Party remake, the latest Tom Hanks picture called A Man Called Otto, and The Devil Conspiracy. By the sound of it, your local movie house is going to be the best way to escape the cold the second weekend of January.

 The Plane Cast Is Led By Gerard Butler And Mike Colter

Only time will tell if we will ever see Gerard Butler in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the action star will share the screen with the actor who appeared in multiple Marvel properties in the upcoming Plane. When the movie takes off in January 2023, it will feature a cast led by Butler and Luke Cage actor Mike Colter, who played the titular comic book hero on his own show as well as several other Netflix-produced Marvel series.

In the movie, Butler will play a Scottish commercial pilot by the name of Captain Brodie Torrance while Colter will play accused murderer Louis Gaspare, who is being transported by the FBI on the ill-fated plane. Joining the pair in the upcoming action romp will be Yoson An (The Meg, Mulan), Daniella Pineda (The Originals, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Paul Ben-Victor (The Wire, In Plain Sight), Remi Adeleke (The Terminal List, 6 Underground), Joey Slotnick (Nip-Tuck, The Goldfinch), Evan Dane Taylor (Daredevil, The Enemy Within), Claro de los Reyes (Is There Anything Else?, Memorial Day), and Tony Goldwyn (The Last Samurai, King Richard).

Plane Follows A Pilot And An Accused Murderer Who Team Up To Rescue Hostages Following An Emergency Landing

When Plane opens in theaters in early 2023, it will take audiences on an action-packed thrill ride centering on a veteran commercial air pilot, Gerard Butler’s Brodie Torrance, as he makes the tough decision to carry out an emergency landing on a war-torn island off the cost of the Philippines after the aircraft is hit by lightning. And according to the official synopsis from Lionsgate, this is where things quickly go from bad to worse.

With contact with the outside world difficult due to the fried electrical equipment, no chance of rescue by local government forces on account of the rebels and insurgents on the island, Torrance is left with no other choice than to turn to accused murderer Louis Gaspare for assistance after the rest of the passengers are taken hostage. Together, the unlikely team will act as a two-man army in hopes of not only rescuing the other passengers but also getting off the island in one piece. But as Torrance learns, there’s more to Gaspare’s story than the feds are willing to reveal or even admit.

 Jean-François Richet Directs Plane

Lionsgate has also announced that French screenwriter, director, and producer Jean-François Richet helmed Plane, and judging by his track record, he seems to be the right filmmaker for the job. 

Since making his debut with the 1995 French drama Inner City (translated from État des Lieux), Richet has gone on to direct movies like the gang-based 1997 film Ma 6-T va Crack-er, the 2005 remake of the classic John Carpenter movie Assault on Precinct 13, 2008’s two-parter Mesrine, One Wild Moment, Blood Father, and The Emperor of Paris.

The Plane script was penned by British spy fiction writer Charles Cumming and Fighting Tommy Riley scribe J.P. Davis, which was based on an original story crafted by Cumming. 

The Plane Trailer Is Full Of Drama, Suspense And Over-The-Top Action

The first trailer for Plane was released in October 2022, and gave the world its first look at the drama, suspense, and over-the-top action of the upcoming Gerard Butler movie. At first, the trailer – thanks to menacing shots of Mike Colter’s Louis Gaspare – makes it seem as if the movie is going to be something like the 2014 Liam Neeson action flick Non-Stop, but that quickly changes once the plane makes its emergency landing and the passengers become hostages. 

After that, Butler and Colter’s characters become an unlikely and unstoppable force, wiping out the captors left and right, resulting in some great action shots and a plane-load of old-fashioned violence. Hopefully, if the movie is a success, it becomes the next Gerard Butler action series in which he and Colter get into all kinds of trouble around the world. 

The world will get to see all the thrills and chills of Plane in action when the movie makes its big screen debut starting January 13, 2023. But that is just the beginning of Gerard Butler’s upcoming plans, as the Scottish action star has a busy slate moving forward, including the disaster film, Greenland: Migration, Ric Roman Waugh’s Kandahar, and the long-in-the-works Night Has Fallen. But while we wait for more information on all of those movies, check out our list of the best action movies to help kill time.

As we get closer to the end of 2022’s new movie releases, it’s time to think of what awaits us in the year to come. In particular, the winter season where wild experiments cross paths with awards hopefuls is almost upon us, and anything can happen. That’s the best time for the new movie Plane to team up action star Gerard Butler with Evil star Mike Colter, in the name of kicking serious ass. 

That is exactly what we’ve gotten a peek at recently, thanks to Lionsgate releasing the first trailer to director Jean-François Richet’s would-be action blockbuster. Plane’s story is simple, but effective: after a lightning strike forces Captain Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) to make an emergency landing, he’ll have to team up with Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), a prisoner he’s transporting, to save his passengers from violent rebels. 

Sounds like your standard Butler-centric festival of beatdowns, right? Well, it looks like you’d be wrong in the case of Plane, as Captain Torrance is the reluctant hero of this journey. Not only does that mean that Gerard Butler gets to flex more of his relatable drama muscles in this movie, but Mike Colter gets to flex his action muscles (and actual muscles) in helping him save the day. 

Oh, it’s a sweet Christmas indeed for Colter fans, as he looks pretty amazing with a sledgehammer in his hands. Check it out for yourself below, as it's a moment too cool not to share in a screen grab: 

Naturally, it’s not long before Gerard Butler starts acting like the hero we’ve seen in movies like the Mike Banning series, which will continue in another sequel to Olympus Has Fallen. However, much as we’ve seen in other recent Butler films like the apocalyptic family drama Greenland, the Scottish actor has been stretching his persona to include roles that aren’t all about smashing someone’s face in.

Should Plane do well enough at the box office, another franchise could be born from a Gerard Butler starring film. Though looking at the action we’ve already been shown, that series might actually be one better carried by Mike Colter’s Louis. Of course, there’s always the option of keeping both Colter and Butler teamed up for another ride. Which would be perfect, as there aren’t enough action movies generating memorable pairings of heroes on the market these days.  

At the moment, those thoughts are all pie in the sky thinking, as Plane will make its final descent into theaters “soon.” No specific release date on the schedule of 2023's new movie releases given at this time, but some sources have the movie pegged for a January 27, 2023 debut. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for an official confirmation at some point in the future. Also, Mike Colter fans can catch him in Evil, as all three seasons are currently streaming for those with a Paramount+ subscription.

Ryan Reynolds has become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood following success with the Deadpool movies and his very public "feud" with Hugh Jackman. His latest film Free Guy is setting pandemic era box office records, showing that a lot of people love his movies so much they'll go to the theater to see them even now. One person who apparently isn't a big Ryan Reynolds fan is fellow actor Gerard Butler, but Reynolds doesn't mind, and he's used the publicity he's getting from this piece of news for good causes.

In a recent interview Gerard Butler, star of the new movie Copshop, was asked about the Ryan Reynolds film Free Guy, specifically because its mixture of game world and reality was similar, in concept to a previous film of his: 2009's Gamer. Butler had no real comment on the similarities between the two films because, according to him, he had no idea what Free Guy even was, as he apparently does not watch Ryan Reynolds films.

Now, one might expect that, upon seeing this news, Ryan Reynolds would probably make a snarky comment for a laugh, that's sort of what the man does. However, in this case, that's not what has happened. Reynolds has been using the publicity generated by these comments to raise money for the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He posted a comment on People's FB post and in his own Instagram post he admitted he was using the SEO juice from the story to generate donations.

As somebody who knows a little bit about search optimization, I have to hand it to Ryan Reynolds. He knows that there will be people who, upon hearing about this, might search his name and Gerard Butler's in order to get new details about this new Hollywood "beef." And so he makes sure that in the places where people will find that information, they'll also find him asking people to donate to charitable causes. Any money that this generates will be more than the organizations had before, and since Reynolds and Blake Lively are matching donations, it means even more money.

Because honestly, while it might be interesting to big fans of one actor or the other that Gerard Butler doesn't watch Ryan Reynolds movies, it's not like it matters that much. While Ryan Reynolds has a lot of fans there are probably a lot of people who don't watch his movies. This could maybe turn into another purely humorous feud like the one Reynolds has with Hugh Jackman, but beyond that I'm not sure people re going to get too worked up about it.

And ultimately it works as a Ryan Reynolds response because, while the main focus is raising money for charity, it's also pretty funny that this would be how Reynolds' would choose to respond. His focus on raising money will get noticed and it will almost certainly get his charity push in front of eyes that might not otherwise see it. What a class act.

Gerard Butler in a thriller? Who could have guessed?! That’s right, the Scottish actor next stars in Copshop, a thriller flick directed by Joe Carnahan that also features Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder, Toby Huss, and Ryan O'Nan. In the action film, wily con artist Teddy Murretto (Grillo) hatches a plan to hide out from lethal assassin Bob Viddick (Butler). He punches rookie officer Valerie Young (Louder) to get himself arrested and locked up in a police station in a small town. However, jail can't protect Murretto for long as Viddick soon schemes his own way into detention, biding his time in a nearby cell until he can complete his mission. When the arrival of another assassin ignites all-out chaos, mounting threats force Viddick to get creative if he wants to finish the job and escape the explosive situation.

Copshop releases in theaters this Friday, September 17, and critics have started releasing their reviews. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Based on our very own Dirk Libbey’s review, Copshop might not be worth a watch. He noted that Butler and Grillo bring in their star power, but that’s pretty much it. There isn’t even much interesting action, which is disappointing given those two names. Libbey did complement Louder’s performance and considered her the breakout star of the thriller. But he was pretty let down by the film, even the finale, which was meant to be badass but totally fell flat. Here’s what he had to say:

Chris Evangelista from SlashFilm had a bit more of a positive opinion about Copshop, but still thought the thriller wasn’t too terribly… thrilling. While he noted that Butler and Grillo have played these kinds of roles many times before, it’s still fun to watch their “sleazy charm” on the screen. Evangelista thought the action flick was “pulpy trash,” but in a good way, a trashy movie that knows it’s trash and is okay with that. But he commented that the movie could have been so much better, as characters like Louder’s aren’t very interesting and the action doesn’t kick in until it’s too late. Overall, he said:

David Lewis from the San Francisco Chronicle was pretty disappointed with the action thriller. He criticized many aspects of the film, from the lack of proper setups, the absence of character development, to the slow pacing. Lewis also thought it was hard to care about any of the characters and didn’t even include interesting action sequences (which is a bummer for an action movie). Lewis noted:

Wes Greene from Slant Magazine enjoyed the “disarming” humor in Copshop, giving the demented character of Anthony Lamb (played by Toby Huss) as an example. He thought Huss’s rambunctious Lamb was a delightful highlight of the film, and argued that if more of the characters had his spirit, it would have been more interesting. Greene also enjoyed the action and suspense in the thriller, which is certainly a different outlook than we’ve seen from other critics. Overall, he commented:

While we’ve seen critics criticizing the pacing and lack of proper setups in the action movie, Phil Hoad from The Guardian actually thought Carnahan kept everything “lean and mean.” He applauded the inclusion of Butler and Louder, though he noted that Grillo’s casting caused Copshop to be void of character differentiation. Hoad also enjoyed the “smart-aleck” dialogue and gratuitous violence in the thriller, calling it:

Well, that was... mixed. You might enjoy Copshop more than these critics, and you can check it out this Friday, September 17.

Until then, you can plan your next movie-going experience with our new movie release guide.

While Hollywood has continued to struggle trying to figure out just what to do with theatrical releases in the pandemic era, the one particular corner of the movie business that has seemed to be largely unaffected is the mid-tier action and horror genres. These tend to be features with original concepts, modest budgets, and names audiences know (but not necessarily the A-list). You can almost hear the studio deciding that a movie probably isn't going to be a massive hit in the best of times, so why not release it now? With Joe Carnahan's Copshop, there's little doubt such a decision was made.

Copshop reteams Carnahan with star Frank Grillo. We've seen this pair together before, but the output has run the gamut from the surprisingly good Boss Level, to the run of the mill buddy cop movie Point Blank. Unfortunately even with action movie veteran Gerard Butler along for the ride this time, Copshop is far closer to the latter effort.

Gerard Butler and Frank Grillo bring their names to Copshop and little else.

Teddy Murretto (Frank Grillo) is on the run – from who it's not exactly clear at first, but he's clearly fearing for his life. He decides the best course of action to get to safety is to punch a cop, Valarie Young (Alexis Louder), square in the face. Getting himself arrested in the middle of nowhere Nevada seems like a smart move at first. However, hitman Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler) simply follows that lead and gets himself thrown in lock up with him in order to get close to Teddy so that he can fulfill his contract.

From the beginning it looks like Copshop could be setting us up for a wild ride. Viddick clearly has a plan when he gets himself arrested, and over the next several minutes we watch pieces get put into place. Sometimes those pieces are put into place in incredibly ham-fisted ways. An early interaction between Valarie and one of her fellow officers is such a blatant setup for something to come later it's impossible not to see it coming, even if it takes the entire rest of the movie for the payoff to finally come.

Even as a simple cinematic diversion Copshop is lacking.

And then, just when it looks like the Rube-Goldberg device is set and the first domino falls... nothing really happens. A status quo is maintained for about half of Copshop's runtime, and it simply isn't filled with enough story to keep audiences interested. None of the characters beyond our main three have any depth or any reason to get invested in them. Even the core cast members are little more than tropes for the most part. When you're offering an action movie with Frank Grillo and Gerard Butler, there's a certain expectation that comes with that, and when they spend 90% of a movie sitting in a cell that's lost.

Eventually, a new character, played by Toby Huss, has to arrive from outside in order to kick the action into full gear. Once that happens things at least get moving. The action isn't anything new or special, but it's there. But the introduction of Huss' character is whole new problem because he feels like he came in from a different Joe Carnahan movie. Up to this point Copshop has been about ratcheting up the tension until things are about to break, and there's little humor to be found – but Huss' character is a "psychopath," which means, apparently, that he has license to be ridiculous while everybody else is playing it straight.

Alexis Louder is the real breakout star.

Frank Grillo and Gerard Butler get first billing in Copshop, and while their conflict may be at the core of the film, it certainly isn't about them. It's about Valerie and how she's going to navigate the situation she's found herself in. Alexis Louder is certainly up to the task. She holds her own against the action veterans as the cop who, while not without her own skills, is certainly in over her head.

When the final act rolls around and sets up its "badass" finale, it ultimately falls flat. Butler and Grillo are finally given something to do, but because the movie hasn't done anything with them up to this point, there are no expectations for the movie to meet, exceed, or even subvert. It's just more gunfire, which is fine, I guess.

If Copshop were funnier it might have been worth a laugh. If the movie had action scenes that were something we'd never seen before, it would have been novel. If it had better built the tension so that the release of it made you feel something, it would have at least been satisfying. Instead it does all these things halfway, making them all mean very little.

The world of assassins can be quite competitive, and a little more than crazy. No one knows that better that co-writer/director Joe Carnahan, as his new film Copshop sees the Smokin’ Aces creator engaging in yet another kill crazy competition. This time, Gerard Butler is one of many assassins who are after Frank Grillo, a veteran of the MCU and Purge action franchises who is playing a man so desperate for protection he’ll willingly get arrested to be brought to safety.

Grillo’s character, Teddy Muretto, is Copshop’s most valuable asset on the board; and in true Joe Carnahan fashion, we don’t know why. All we know is Teddy wants to get locked up in a desperate bid for survival, which leads to his coincidental teaming with officer Valerie Young (Alexis Louder). Two can play at that particular game, as assassin Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler) employs that same strategy to get closer to his target; and not a moment too soon. As other assassins are clued into Teddy’s whereabouts, Bob holds the advantage, but the game is on to try and top him.

Part insane action, part deadpan comedy, Joe Carnahan’s unique energy is felt through every frame of Copshop’s trailer. It’s also good to see Carnahan reteaming with his Boss Level star Frank Grillo, who’s up to whatever challenge he’s given in this bullet laden obstacle course. But Grillo seems to be playing straight man to two criminal funseekers, thanks to Gerard Butler and Halt and Catch Fire’s Toby Huss.

With one clearly being crazier than the other, Copshop has its fair assortment of crazy and dangerous people. And we haven’t even seen all of them, as the race to be the first to take out Frank Grillo looks like it’s going to be a dangerous one to live through. Explosions, car crashes, fires, and even a wall being sledgehammered out of existence are just a tastes of the stuff Copshop is offering to the public.

It should also be noted that Gerard Butler is apparently unstoppable when it comes to his work ethic. As the man is currently on deck for a sequel to Angel Has Fallen and his continuing Mike Banning series, as well as the follow-up to the surprise hit known as Greenland, Butler just isn’t slowing down. Which only makes him the perfect match against Frank Grillo, and his insane ability to pop up when you least expect him.

Copshop has pretty much everything an action-comedy fan could want, especially if they’re disciples of Joe Carnahan’s insanely energetic entries into the genre. September 17th is when the film is looking to open in theaters, which gives folks some time to clear their schedules and place their bets on who’ll survive the carnage. In the meantime, head over to the 2021 release schedule, and see what other films Copshop will contend with on that weekend’s battlefield.

Hollywood has been filled to the brim with legal-related situations as of late. The biggest is arguably the revelation that longtime Marvel star Scarlettt Johansson is suing The Walt Disney Company due to the simultaneous theatrical/streaming release of Black Widow. There’s a chance the development could have further ramifications on the House of Mouse but, now, another entertainment company finds itself in a legal case of its own. Nu Image/Millennium Films is being sued by Gerard Butler in a financial matter relating to the film Olympus Has Fallen.

In a lawsuit filed this past Friday, Gerard Butler alleged that Nu Image/Millennium Films owes him at least $10 million in backend compensation for Olympus Has Fallen. According to Variety, the lawsuit claims the foreign and domestic returns for the film were downplayed by tens of millions of dollars. Butler’s suit also alleges that $8 million, which went to executives, went unreported. The suit states:

The suit also states that Gerard Butler’s contract stipulated that he would receive 10% of the film’s net profits, along with 6% of the domestic adjusted gross returns over $70 million and 12% of foreign adjusted gross returns over $35 million. In addition, Butler was reportedly meant to earn a number of bonuses, which were contingent upon the movie hitting certain box office goals. His production company, G-Base, was also to receive 5% of the net profits.

This suit kicked off in earnest when Gerard Butler reportedly hired an auditor who allegedly discovered that the domestic returns were understated by $17.5 million and that producers’ receipts were understated by $12 million, which includes the aforementioned $8 million. According to the suit, Butler originally sought out the auditor after receiving accounting statements that seemed offbase.

When it opened in 2013, Olympus Has Fallen opened to a $30.5 million box office debut, exceeding expectations and earning itself the #2 spot at the box office. The film would ultimately finish its theatrical run with a total of $170.3 million worldwide. The movie, which stars Gerard Butler as secret service agent Mike Banning, would spawn two sequels, 2016’s London Has Fallen and 2019’s Angel Has Fallen. A fourth installment is also reported to be in the works.

Despite all of the details associated with Gerard Butler’s case, Variety refers to the situation as a more straightforward “Hollywood accounting” case, as opposed to Scarlett Johansson’s legal battle with Disney. The streaming ramifications of that case are significant and have reportedly even encouraged Cruella’s Emma Stone to weigh her own legal options following her movie’s same-day theatrical/streaming release.

The situation over at Disney will certainly be something to keep an eye on, but it’ll also be interesting to see how things pan out for Gerard Butler. And of course, be sure to check in with CinemaBlend for updates on all of these legal cases.

2020 was an absolutely bizarre year for movies. There simply weren't as many of them as we're used to seeing, certainly not of the major blockbuster variety. Beyond that, it's somewhat difficult to even gauge which movies we did get were "hits" and which were not. Even if a film was released in theaters, its box office was certainly smaller than what it would have been under other circumstances. And many movies never even got a box office total, releasing as video on demand titles or on streaming services. However, it seems Hollywood has decided Gerard Butler's Greenland was a big enough hit, because it's sequel just sold for big money.

Deadline reports that Greenland: Migration, the follow up to last year's disaster movie, has been picked up by STX for $75 million, the biggest deal of this year's Cannes virtual market. $25 million gives STX the domestic distribution rights to the film, and the balance covers all international markets. There were apparently several other interested parties so a bidding war ensued over the upcoming film, which is looking to begin filming early next year.

While Greenland didn't have a domestic box office, it debuted as a VOD title, and it only made about $50 million internationally, the film was still something of a surprise hit. It got solid reviews from critics and those that did see it. The movie starred Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin as a family trying to find shelter from an impeding comet impact on earth. The sequel, as the title implies, will see the characters emerge from the shelter in Greenland and attempt to cross a now desolate and dangerous planet-- looking for a new place to call home.

Following the film's VOD release it was released on HBO Max in what was apparently a quite lucrative deal. That may be what gives STX the confidence that a sequel can be equally successful without the traditional metric of the box office to judge. It shows how the landscape of Hollywood is potentially changing. The box office, while still vital, is not the only arbiter of what makes a movie a financial success.

Considering there were other high profile films on the auction block, including a new Vin Diesel action movie and Zoe Kravitz directorial debut Pussy Island, the fact that the Greenland sequel was the hot commodity is saying something. This is the movie that studios think has the potential to be the biggest winner, at least from a business standpoint.

It will certainly be interesting to see how Greenland: Migration performs in a couple of years when the movie industry is, one assumes, back to normal. Will it reveal that the original film would have been a box office hit if only given the chance? Or could it be that Greenland success came because of, and not in spite of the circumstances of its release?

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Greenland and its ending.

While the world was dealing with one of the worst public health crises in recorded history, Gerard Butler was trying to save his on-screen family in Greenland from another disaster: a planet-killer comet with a collision course set straight for Earth. And unlike what we experienced in 2020, there was no cure or way to stop the incoming threat in Ric Roman Waugh’s surprisingly successful disaster flick that actually had a lot to say about the way in which humanity deals with such events.

With the news there would be a Greenland 2, I went back and watched its predecessor to get all caught up on how the film’s main characters — the Garrity family — made their way to a fortified bunker to weather the cosmic storm during the Greenland ending. After finishing the epic action thriller I couldn’t stop thinking about what kind of world is going to be left for the Garritys once they depart the bunker and make a new life for themselves in a new world.

What Happened In Greenland

Like pretty much every other end-of-the-world disaster film, Greenland has a lot going on in addition to its central story about a comet headed straight for Earth that has the potential to wipe out all life. One on hand you have the failing marriage shared by John Garrity (Gerard Butler) and his wife Allison (Morena Baccarin). Then you have the selection process for those chosen to seek shelter in underground bunkers. Add a child with medical needs (Roger Dale Floyd’s character, Nathan Garrity, has diabetes which becomes a major plot point) with people absolutely losing their minds (David Denman’s character kidnapping a kid and trying to act like his dad), and you have a recipe for disaster.

Throughout Greenland’s wild second act that feels like one of those bad dreams where you have to be at work only to discover your car is on the other side of town, the Garrity family (who are split up after John went back to get Nathan’s insulin) fight off abductors, enraged nationalists, and traffic to make it to the safe confines of Allison’s family home where they’re greeted by her father Dale (Scott Glenn). With only 15 hours to make it to the bunker (which has been revealed to be in Greenland), the Garritys make one last mad dash to safety.

How Things Ended For The Garrity Family In Greenland

After the whirlwind that is Greenland’s second act, the Garrity family make it to the final plane headed to the hidden bunker facility. Following a daring landing in the now out-of-commission plane, the pilot (played by Mindhunter star Holt McCallany) gets the passengers to safety but the same can’t be said for himself. Once on land, the survivors are scooped up by the military and taken to bunker complex just as Clarke makes impact in Europe, instantly killing billions of people.

Nine months later we see what’s left of major cities around the world like Sydney, Chicago, Mexico City, Paris as wer hear radio chatter from the various bunkers. Finally, with much of the world decimated, the Garrity family and the other survivors walk out into the new world with a mixture of hope and fear for what lies ahead.

What The World Might Look Like After The Garrity Family Leaves The Bunker In Greenland

Okay, now that we know where things left off for the Garrity family during the Greenland ending, let’s take a look at what the future might hold for them once they leave the confines of the fortified bunker deep beneath the frozen ground of the arctic.

Before the credits roll, we are given a glimpse at the world: major cities completely destroyed and large craters peppered around the globe, especially a massive one that hit Western Europe. This should surely make things complicated for the Garrity family in Greenland: Migration considering the movie is set to take place in Europe, per Deadline. And even though nine months have passed since Clarke collided with Earth and birds can be seen and heard flying about, the planet is going to be in dire shape for quite some time following all those impacts.

Once they leave the bunker, the Garrity family is sure to see even more damage caused by the comet and the natural disasters caused by its impact (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.), which will make starting a new life even harder for the reunited family. But if Greenland taught us anything, the Garritys should be more concerned about the people who are left and how they might act following the nearly-complete eradication of all life.

How Might Society React To Those Leaving The Bunkers In Greenland: Migration

Throughout Greenland we come across multiple people who don’t react to the news of the world coming to an end as well as others. While the Garrity family keeps their wits about them for the most part, other characters have a “nothing to lose” mentality. It doesn’t help that a lot of those same people will beg, lie, cheat, and steal if it means they have a shot at salvation, even if its means having a bitterness and hatred towards those lucky few chosen to take shelter. So, what happens in the event some of those people survived outside the bunker and are still around in Greenland: Migration? Will they hold a grudge against those who had peace and security and remained with their families in the aftermath of the comet?

If screenwriter Chris Sparling’s script for Greenland 2 is anything like its predecessor, expect to see a lot of these same ideas come back again, only this time they could be much, much worse. This could honestly turn into a fairly complex sequel with shades of political and societal tension (like the people on the truck in Greenland) and people who’ve lost all touch with right and wrong (the whole abduction angle). I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what's actually planned for the next movie.

We will have to wait and see what the future holds for the Garrity family when Greenland: Migration makes its eventual debut. In the meantime, check out CinemaBlend’s list of 2021 movie premiere dates for all the latest titles coming to theaters and streaming services in the very near future.

Greenland 2: Migration is happening, and it’s coming to a theater very, very soon. It seems like just yesterday that Gerard Butler and Ric Roman Waugh teamed up for Greenland, one of the best disaster films of the past few decades. After five years of anticipation, the follow-up to the 2020 thriller about an asteroid bringing on an extinction-level event and sending the world into chaos is finally happening.

The long-in-the-works sequel, which has been something Butler and company have been trying to get off the ground for a few years now, is something a lot of us can’t wait to see on the big screen next year. But before we file into movie theaters around the world to see how this one shakes out, there’s some information we need to go over first. Below is everything we know about the Greenland sequel, including its release date, story, cast, and so much more…

What Is The Greenland 2: Migration Release Date?

Well, the 2026 movie schedule will get off to a killer start, as Gerard Butler’s Greenland 2: Migration has been given a January 9, 2026, release date. Butler, who is pretty much the king of the January box office with hits like the Den of Thieves franchise and Plane, will share the date with Jason Statham’s Mutiny, People We Meet on Vacation, and SOULM8TE, for now.

Greenland 2: Migration Will Follow The Garrity Family As They Exit The Fortified Bunker To Start A New Life In Europe

In the final moments of the Greenland ending, we watched as the Garrity family (played by Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, and Roger Dale Floyd) and other survivors exited the bunker to discover a world brought to the brink of destruction by fragments of the planet-killing comet.

While major cities around the world were wiped off the map, there was still some hope for humanity, as heard in the various radio messages from other secure locations. Lionsgate has announced that Greenland 2: Migration will follow the Garrity family as they leave the relative safety of the bunker to start a new life in France, where scientists believe they can still find breathable air and soil capable of fostering life. However, this isn’t going to be a walk in the park.

Gerard Butler And Morena Baccarin Lead The Greenland 2: Migration Cast

The Greenland 2: Migration cast will once again be led by the two leads from the first film, Lionsgate has announced. The upcoming sequel to the 2020 disaster flick will see Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin reprising their roles as John and Allison Garrity, respectively. But Roger Dale Floyd won’t be rejoining them as the Garrity’s son, Nathan, as Jojo Rabbit and Silent Night (another great disaster film) star Roman Griffin Davis has come in as his replacement.

The studio has also announced that Amber Rose Revah, Sophie Tompson, Trond Fausa Aurvag, and William Abadie will be appearing.

The Greenland 2: Migration Trailer Teases Radiation Storms And More Meteors

After what seems like years of radio silence, the world finally got a proper look at the upcoming movie when the Greenland 2: Migration trailer dropped in September 2025. Clocking in at a little less than two-and-a-half minutes, this action-packed and emotionally gripping preview picks up years after the events of the first film, and introduces a world on the brink of destruction.

With radiation storms (yes, your eyes aren’t failing you), even more meteors left over from the devastating asteroid that nearly destroyed the planet in the first film, and a struggle for survival on the surface of a scorched Earth, there’s a lot going on here. How the Garrity family and the rest of the survivors inside and outside of the bunker see this one through is anyone’s guess at this point. But we soon shall see…

Director Ric Roman Waugh And Screenwriter Chris Sparling Returned For Greenland 2: Migration

Also returning are director Ric Roman Waugh and screenwriter Chris Sparling (who co-wrote with Mitchell Lafortune), the core creative team behind the surprise 2020 disaster movie hit, according to Variety. In a statement shared with the outlet back in 2021, Waugh touched on the impact of the first film when looking toward the franchise’s future:

This will be the third film project to see a collaboration between Waugh and Butler, a partnership that started after working together on back-to-back pictures, Angel Has Fallen and Greenland, which came out in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The director-actor duo has also been attached to be a part of Night Has Fallen, but there hasn’t been much movement since the project was given the green light in November 2020.

What Is The Greenland 2: Migration Rating?

If you were hoping the movie would be suitable for pretty much anyone over the age of 9 years old, you’re in luck, because the new film is rated PG-13, per FilmRatings.com. However, this doesn’t mean the upcoming disaster film won’t be without some intense or violent moments, as the rating has been handed down due to strong violence, bloody images, and action.

How To Watch The First Greenland Movie Before Migration Comes Out

Considering that more than five years will have passed by the time Migration comes out, there’s a good chance you’re going to want to watch Greenland sooner or later. A lot has gone on in the five years since the movie’s initial release, and a nice refresher never hurt anyone (especially with a movie as captivating as this). That being said, now is the perfect time to revisit the end-of-the-world disaster film before the sequel comes out, as it is currently streaming for anyone with an HBO Max subscription. If you don’t have the streaming service, then you can rent or buy digital copies at places like Amazon and iTunes.

• Stream Greenland on HBO Max.
• Rent/Buy Greenland on Amazon.

Greenland 2: Migration will be here in a matter of months, but we’ll make sure to keep this guide updated with all the latest information (and hopefully more early footage) in the weeks to come.

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Gerard Butler is one of those actors that has the ability to entertain fans of romantic comedies, comic book adaptations, and over-the-top disaster films better than just about anyone out there. From tearjerkers like P.S. I Love You to end-of-the-world family action-dramas like Greenland, Butler spent the first two decades of 21st Century finding new ways to up the ante and pull off some miraculous feats, no matter the genre.

And it’s not like Gerard Butler has only appeared in a handful of memorable movies over the past 20 years. No, not this Scottish actor. In fact, he’s had roles in so many different films over the years, it’s easy to lose track of them all. But, luckily, a great number of Butler's dramas, comedies, and action spectacles are available to stream (or at least rent) right now. That being said, here are 15 movies (plus a few more from a couple of franchises) starring Gerard Butler you can watch right now.

Greenland (Amazon)

The basic premise of Greenland — the planet is under attack by a comet and John Garrity (Gerard Butler) must protect his estranged wife and sick son — is nothing new to the disaster film genre, but that doesn’t make the latest Gerard Butler brush with death any less enjoyable. Director Ric Roman Waugh (who previously worked with Butler on Angel Has Fallen) doesn’t pull any punches (or explosive shots of cities being destroyed) as he guides Garrity and his family to salvation in an underground bunker deep in the heart of Greenland, hence the very appropriate name.

Rent on Amazon here.

Den Of Thieves (Netflix)

When Gerard Butler isn’t adding to his growing collection of disaster movies, he keeps himself busy with gritty crime thrillers, like 2018’s Den of Thieves, in which he plays Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department detective Nicholas “Big Nick” O’Brien as he tries to take out a crew attempting one hell of a heist. With an emotionally complex narrative, some of the best heist scenes since Michael Mann’s Heat, and one hell of a cast, Christian Gudegast’s tour de force is a must for fans of the bank robbery genre.

Stream it on Netflix here.

Rent it here.

The Fallen Movies (Netflix, Amazon)

Starting with the insane Olympus Has Fallen in 2013, Gerard Butler has taken on the role of former U.S. Army Ranger and Secret Service agent (and all around badass dude) Mike Banning on three occasions (with more on the way) to save various Presidents of the United States. Whether it’s in the U.K.-based London Has Fallen, or the bonkers threequel Angel Has Fallen, Butler has found a way to make the broken man with a heart of gold (and ice cold steel) come off as a bonafide hero and save the day again and again.

Stream Olympus Has Fallen here.

Rent it here.

Rent _London Has Fallen _here.

Stream _Angel Has Fallen _here.

Rent it here.

Playing For Keeps (Netflix)

In the 2012 romantic comedy Playing for Keeps, Gerard Butler plays former Scottish soccer star George Dryer as he finds himself being goaded into coaching his son’s team as he tries to get his foot in the door of the sports broadcasting world. Forced to fight off temptation from several of the parents of his players (Dennis Quaid with monetary bribes, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Uma Thurman with love and passion), Dryer attempts to find his way, achieve his dreams, and get his family back together.

Stream it on Netflix here.

Rent it here.

The How To Train Your Dragon Movies (Amazon, Netflix, Hulu)

Since the release of How to Train Your Dragon in 2010, the DreamWorks Animation franchise has become one of the most popular and successful of its time, and spawned two additional movies (How to Train Your Dragon 2 and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World), and even more shorts, specials, and television series. The adventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Jay Baruchel) and his trusty dragon, Toothless, are full of drama, emotion, and wonder as the saga of a young viking trying to escape his father’s shadow and become the leader his people need.

Rent How To Train Your Dragonhere.

Stream How To Train Your Dragon 2here.

Rent How To Train Your Dragon 2here.

Stream How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden Worldhere.

Rent it here.

Law Abiding Citizen (BET+)

The 2009 crime thriller Law Abiding Citizen follows Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) as he wages a one-man war against the legal system, and prosecutor Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), after a man responsible for killing his wife and daughter gets off easy in exchange for his testimony about the crime. This gripping and highly emotional series of head games shows just how far one man will go in order to get justice, even if it means becoming what he hates.

Stream it on BET+ here.

Rent it here.

Geostorm (HBO Max)

The 2017 sci-fi disaster film Geostorm follows Jacob “Jake” Lawson (Gerard Butler) after the climate-controlling satellite falls under the control of the wrong hands and begins to bring destruction to earth. In order to prevent the “Geostorm” from wiping out all life on Earth, Jake and his brother Max (Jim Sturgess) must get over their past differences and resolve the issue that is bringing death to billions of living souls. It’s over the top and it’s hard to believe, but the big-budget popcorn flick is something to behold.

Stream it on HBO Max here. If you're not an HBO Max subscriber, you can sign up here. *

*Rent it here.

P.S. I Love You (HBO Max)

When Gerard Butler isn’t kicking ass and saving the planet he also keeps himself busy with romantic dramas like the 2007 tearjerker P.S. I Love You in which he plays Gerry Kennedy, a man who wrote a series of letters to his wife, Holly (Hilary Swank) prior to his death. Over time, the letters help her come to terms with and move past the loss of her husband and start a new life for herself.

Stream it on HBO Max here

Rent it here.

Timeline (HBO Max)

While probably not anyone’s favorite Michael Crichton adaptation, the 2003 sci-fi adventure Timeline isn’t necessarily the worst either. Centering on Chris Johnston (Paul Walker) after he and a team of archeologists, who include Gerard Butler’s André Marek, travel through a wormhole back to 14th-Century France to locate his missing father, the movie takes exciting twists and terrifying turns as they uncover the mystery and fight for their lives.

Stream it on HBO Max here.

Rent it here.

300 (Amazon)

Neither his first or best movie, 300 remains the film people mention when the name Gerard Butler comes up. Zack Snyder’s 2007 adaptation of the Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s graphic novel of the same name, this visually striking and intense war epic sees Butler take on the role of Leonidas, the King of Sparta, who rallies several hundred chiseled soldiers to defend their homeland from King Xerxes and his Persian forces. Loosely based on the real-life Battle of Thermopylae, this action-packed, bloody, and stylish military film is just as unique now as it was 14 years ago.

Rent it here.

Dear Frankie (CBS All Access)

The 2005 drama Dear Frankie follows 9-year-old Frankie Morrison (Jack McElhone) as he prepares to finally meet his father, with whom he has been writing for years, as the merchant seaman’s ship is returning to Scotland. The only problem, however, is Frankie’s mother, Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) has been writing the letters and has to find a suitable man to masquerade as the young boy’s father. Enter the Stranger (Gerard Butler), a man who not only becomes a father figure for Frankie, but a trusted companion of Lizzie's along the way.

Stream it on CBS All Access here.

Rent it here.

The Ugly Truth (Amazon)

In 2009, Gerard Butler and former Grey’s Anatomy star Katherine Heigl got together for the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth, in which a morning show producer (Heigl) gives an opinionated and foul-mouthed talk show host (Butler) a segment on her daily broadcast. Over time, the contentious and oftentimes heated working relationship turns into something more.

Stream it on Amazon here.

RocknRolla (Amazon)

Guy Ritchie’s 2008 crime action flick RocknRolla follows One Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba), two small-time crooks who finally decide to change their ways and put in some honest work for a change. The only problem with this plan is they need to borrow money from notorious criminal Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson) who doesn’t like to have red in his books. The pair try find a way out of the mess, but if that doesn’t shake out, they’re better off dead.

Rent it here.

The Phantom Of The Opera (Hoopla)

Before he was kicking ass, taking names, and saving the world, Gerard Butler was the titular character in Joel Schumacher’s 2004 adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera alongside Emmy Rossum as Christine Daaé. This wild and eye-catching spectacle features a mostly-masked Butler falling in love and singing songs with the young Christine, just as countless actors have done in various screen and stage revivals of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway sensation.

Stream it on Hoopla here.

Rent it here.

Reign Of Fire (Amazon)

And then there is the 2002 dystopian sci-fi thriller Reign of Fire, which follows Christian Bale’s Quinn Abercromby, Matthew McConaughey’s Denton Van Zan, and Gerard Butler’s Creedy as they try to save a near-future London from ruin by fire-breathing dragons. Bleak, dirty, and action-packed, Rob Bowman’s fight between man and mythical beast is often forgotten 19 years later, but remains a fairly enjoyable movie to watch.

Rent it here.

This is just a small portion of Gerard Butler's insanely deep filmography. For every The Ugly Truth there is a One for the Money, and a Hunter Killer for every Geostorm. The thing about the Scottish leading man is that you never really know which direction he's going to take with his career, which is one of the reasons he is so much fun to follow.

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In recent years, Gerard Butler has transformed himself from the lovable hunk in romantic comedies to the bonafide king of disaster and over-the-top action movies. With titles like Geostorm, Hunter Killer, and the never-ending Olympus Has Fallen franchise, Butler’s run has been impressive to say the least. And that momentum continued in a strange 2020 with the release of Greenland, his latest end of the world adventure that took the VOD route, opposed to a traditional release here in the United States. With so many different platforms offering that viewing model, there’s more than one way to watch Greenland streaming from the comfort of your couch.

Below is a breakdown of how to catch Greenland streaming on a number of platforms, as well as other things you should know about the latest in a long line of preposterous, yet insanely entertaining Gerard Butler action flicks.

Where Is Greenland Streaming

It has never been easier to watch Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, and the rest of the Greenland cast seek out shelter to weather a cosmic storm of comet shards as there are multiple ways to take in all the action. If you want to watch Greenland streaming, your best best is to watch Ric Rowan Waugh’s 2020 disaster flick on HBO Max.

Stream Greenland on HBO Max.

You can also buy a digital copy of Greenland on Amazon if you either don’t have HBO Max or prefer to own all your digital content.

Buy Greenland on Amazon.

Will Greenland Be On Netflix?

The question of “Will [insert movie here] be on Netflix” is one that comes up time and time again, but in the case of Greenland I think you have a better chance of seeing a movie where Gerard Butler gets to use his Scottish accent than seeing his latest disaster film on the popular streaming service. That became especially clear in October 2020, when the movie’s pay TV and streaming rights went to HBO, per Deadline.

If You’ve Seen Greenland, Check Out What CinemaBlend Had To Say About The Disaster Movie

If you’ve already seen Greenland, or if you want to know what CinemaBlend’s Dirk Libbey had to say about the latest Gerard Butler disaster flick, don’t worry, because you are more than covered here. In his review, Libbey declared that Greenland is not a total disaster, but was very close. While he enjoyed the characters and their relationships, the first act and pacing issues in the final section of the movie were more than a little frustrating. If you want to check out the full review, you can do so here.

All of that should be more than enough to set you on a path to watching Gerard Butler attempt to survive an extinction event (and get his family back together in the process). If you want to know what other movies you can check out, head on over to CinemaBlend’s list of upcoming 2021 movies.

Generally speaking the genre of film known as the "disaster movie" is not particularly well regarded among the more "serious" film viewer. While there are certainly exceptions, disaster movies currency is usually spectacle, and as such there's little attention given to minor details like "character" or "plot." Just fill the screen with things blowing up are cities being flooded and viewers will get what they expected, and, at least in theory, be happy with that. So there probably wasn't a great deal of high expectation in Greenland, and yet the movie is, maybe, pretty good? Or, at the very least, it's not that bad.

Greenland stars Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin as a family trying to find safety when a comet fragment is on a collision course with earth, and while that may seem wild, and it is, at the core of Greenland is a character driven story that far more relatable and believable. I gave the movie 2.5 stars in my official review, because, while there is a great deal of dumb stuff in Greenland, there's still something of value as well. From my review...

While comets raining down on the earth is the cause of the catastrophe, it's not really what the movie is about. Greenland sets up Gerard Butler as a man who, through a combination of luck and his choice of profession, has been chosen to survive the catastrophe and he and his family have been given space in a secret underground bunker. Unfortunately, because, the world is otherwise coming to an end, getting to safety is far from easy and the family must navigate humanity at its worst and survive other people before they can even have a chance to survive the comets.

And it seems that I'm not the only one that found something of value in Greenland. The film currently has a 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and while nobody's review finds Greenland to be without fault, most certainly find it to be something of value. The Los Angeles Times found much about Greenland to be a little too real in many ways.

Of course, if what you're actually looking for in your disaster movie is, you know, a disaster, Greenland has that too. In fact, some critics are of the opinion that those are the elements worth watching Greenland to see. The San Jose Mercury News, actually finds the more sentimental aspects of the script over done, but enjoys the "roller coaster" of the more escapist elements, saying...

Of course, while the majority of critics find something of value in Greenland, even if they can't all agree on what that is, there are also those that find not enough of value in the film. Variety seems to appreciate what Greenland is trying to do, but just doesn't feel like it does it well enough..

Greenland is another victim of the global pandemic. Planned for a theatrical release, the movie is made available via VOD platforms today. If you're playing the odds, it seems likely that you'll find something in the film that makes watching it worth while, even if it's somewhat unlikely you're going to totally love all of it.

There are scenes in Gerard Butler’s latest disaster drama Greenland that struck me as “impossible to film” now. The scenes had nothing to do with the asteroid fragments that were entering our atmosphere, or the damage done to our planet in the aftermath of such devastation. Special effects will always make scenes like that possible. No, Greenland must have been one of the last films to wrap its production before the pandemic shut our industry down, and there are massive scenes of huge crowds gathered together in a panic as survivors tried to figure out what to do in a panic.

And I kept thinking, “What will the film industry do moving forward?” How will it be possible, in the short term, to film movies like Greenland? Yes, a vaccine is on its way, but it could take the better part of 2021 to restore some form of normalcy. So when given the chance to interview the people responsible for this new film, I posed the question to them, as they speak from experience. Their answers are in the video above.

In Greenland, Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin are parents on the run when society is thrown off kilter by the arrival of asteroid pieces that are breaking through our stratosphere. Only, in the hands of director Ric Roman Waugh, this isn’t Armageddon. There’s a lot of character work included in the dialogue, as real people face real-world problems in the wake of the physical disasters.

Waugh had an optimistic approach to the challenges of filming dramatic stories like this in the wake of a global pandemic. He told CinemaBlend:

Resourcefulness and creativity: two things that are in abundance in Hollywood (when the right people can tap into them). Greenland co-star Morena Baccarin contributed to the group effort of bringing this movie to screens, but she’s more hesitant about the industry’s ability to mount massive productions like this, at least in the short term. Baccarin told CinemaBlend:

You will be able to see the fruits of the Greenland labor when the movie opens on Paid VOD beginning Friday, December 18.

Movies are artifacts of the world in which they are made, and that includes the timing of their release. It may not be fair to judge Ric Roman Waugh's Greenland for being a disaster movie about the potential end of the world for being released during a pandemic – though the planned theatrical release was notably shifted to a VOD one for obvious reasons. The fact that both wildfires and hurricanes were battering different parts of the nation during the films initial release window likely didn't help the situation.

In Greenland, John Garrity (Gerard Butler) is a structural engineer living in Georgia. He’s in the process of moving back in with his wife Allison (Morena Baccarin) and son Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd) after the couple has been having marital troubles, and he returns home on the eve of a party where the plan is to watch a comet dubbed Clarke, which is set to make the closest pass by Earth of any celestial object in history. It's a thing worth celebrating... before everything goes horribly wrong.

Unfortunately, somebody did the math wrong and what is expected to be a harmless splash down of a comet fragment in the ocean turns out to be the first of many continental collisions, causing widespread destruction and panic around the world. Luckily, John has been selected (apparently due to a combination of having valuable skills, and also luck) to take his family to a bunker where it’s believed they’ll be able to wait out the catastrophe. While the location of the bunkers are classified, the rumor is that they’re located in the country of Greenland.

Of course, as one might expect, the path from danger to safety is not a straight line, and John and his family must survive one trial after another in order to make it from their home to the bunker, assuming it even really exists. Everybody at the party finds out that John, Allison, and Nathan are going to be safe via what is obviously the worst planned notification process that anybody could possibly come up with. And the roads are flooded with people who simply don't know what else to do. Try to make it to see family one last time? Look for a miraculous solution that's maybe out there somewhere?

Everything about the first act of Greenland is stupid. Literally everything.

Greenland is a pretty straight forward disaster movie on paper. I spent most of the first act wondering if I’d somehow already seen this movie before, I think I was confusing it with Geostorm, another global disaster movie starring Gerard Butler. It’s fairly easy to get distracted by thoughts like this during the first act, because the first act is pretty dumb. Everything about the initial premise feels like it’s just meant to be the paper-thin excuse necessary to blow shit up with comet fragments for 90 minutes, which would be fine as far as that goes. Though the blowing up of shit isn't all that impressive on its own.

It's because of this that it’s sort of shocking to have the comet be essentially forgotten about for the entire second act of the movie. Instead, we get a remarkably solid character drama where John and Allison have to navigate the world, now gone completely off the rails since everybody is probably about to die anyway. The tension is strong. In some places it’s absolutely heartbreaking. When the movie forgets the comets and gets to be about the people, the good and the bad, it becomes much more relatable.

When Greenland is about characters and not comets, it works surprisingly well.

A lot of it is still fairly predictable to be sure, but it all works. You can finally start to connect with the characters on an emotional level once the danger shrinks from “global extinction” to “other people are basically monsters.” It's all stuff we've seen before, sure, but that's because it tends to work. Nobody's going to win an Oscar for Greenland, but nobody is phoning it in either. Well, maybe Scott Glenn, who makes a brief appearance just to "be Scott Glenn" for 15 minutes; but he's Scott Glenn so we'll let it slide.

All that tension is then resolved... and somehow the movie still has 30 minutes left to run. It honestly feels like ever screenwriter Chris Sparling wasn’t sure what to do with the final act of the movie as the story shifts back to hiding from fiery debris falling from the sky and all the tension from the middle of the movie is lost in the end of the world disaster porn (which I sort of figured was going to be the whole film at the outset). Greenland limps to the finish line with a finale that wouldn’t have been so frustrating if the movie hadn’t shown itself capable of more.

I’m not sure if anybody is the right audience for movies about the end of the world right now – many of us have access to Twitter, after all. And yet, even if an over the top disaster movie is what you feel you want to watch, I’m still not sure Greenland fits the bill. If you’re looking for cities exploding into dust in massive craters, you won’t see as much of that as you might think.

Greenland has some solid stuff at its core, but its bookended by such dumb that it’s hard to believe all the pieces were meant to fit together in the same movie. More importantly, these pieces feel like they were made for such different audiences it’s hard to image anybody actually enjoying the whole thing.