After spending years in development, the upcoming Point Break remake finally seemed to have all of its parts in place - including it's two main cast members - but now one of those important pieces has fallen away. Gerard Butler, who first entered negotiations to be a part of the production in January - has reportedly walked from the project.
The Hollywood Reporter was the first to post the news, saying that there are multiple reasons why the two parties split. In addition to having some creative differences with the filmmakers (that sadly go unexplained in the trade report), apparently Butler also has a scheduling conflict. Point Break is scheduled to start filming in late June and the production is expected to take place over the course of many months in multiple international locations. This apparently runs into the shooting schedule for London Has Fallen - a sequel to the modestly successful 2013 thriller Olympus Has Fallen - which will be going in front of cameras in the fall.
Butler was attached to play Bodhie in Point Break, the movie's "Zen-infused thief " who was played by Patrick Swayze in the Kathryn Bigelow-directed original. He was going to be playing opposite Aussie newcomer Luke Bracey, who is still on-board to play the Keanu Reeves role Johnny Utah, and Ray Winstone, who will be taking over Gary Busey's role. While the 1991 movie had Bodhie portrayed as a champion surfer, the remake will feature all kinds of extreme sports. Kurt Wimmer, who most recently penned the Total Recall remake for director Len Wiseman, is penning the screenplay, while Ericson Core - the filmmaker behind the 2006 Mark Wahlberg football drama Invincible - is attached to helm.
Point Break losing its most recognizable actor may seem like a big roadblock, and some of you out there may be wondering (or possibly downright hoping) that this will set back production. This apparently won't be the case, as Alcon Entertainment says that they still plan to start on time. Presumably this means that the company will be scrambling in the next few weeks to try and find someone to replace Butler. Hopefully the role doesn't require a lot of training.
Gerard Butler will be back on the big screen in animated form this summer, reprising his role as Stoick in How To Train Your Dragon 2, but he has a lot more on his plate as well. He just signed on recently to star in Dean Devlin's disaster/action movie Geostorm, and has been filming Alex Proyas' Gods of Egypt with Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Geoffrey Rush and Elodie Yung. Also in development is the sports drama Dynamo, as well as Simon West's war movie Thunder Run, which will co-star Matthew McConaughey.
