Antoine Fuqua Could Direct Olympus Has Fallen, Starring Gerard Butler

Gerard Butler in Olympus Has Fallen
(Image credit: FilmDistrict)

In 2012 two different versions of the fairy tale Snow White will be released and there are currently two biopics about pornstar Linda Lovelace in the works. Hollywood is never afraid to show its pure lack of originality on its sleeve, but it's still upsetting when it gets this terrible. But do you want to know something even worse? Now there are two projects in the works that can both be described as "like Die Hard, but set in the White House."

Following news of Roland Emmerich being in talks to helm White House Down last week, THR is reporting that Training Day director Antoine Fuqua is in talks to direct Olympus Has Fallen, a new project with the above description. But while White House Down's news broke earlier, Olympus Has Fallen is actually in the lead. The trade says that Gerard Butler is already attached to star as a Secret Service agent who must work to defend the president when the White House is overtaken by a terrorist organization. Even though the project seems like its still in the early development stages, the truth is that Millennium Entertainment, the company behind the film, is fast-tracking it and is hoping to get the movie in front of cameras this June. First time writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt wrote the script, which Millennium bought back in March.

While this may sound like good news for the film, it's best not to count chickens before they hatch. Fuqua, who hasn't made a movie since 2009's Brooklyn's Finest, has an incredibly full plate, having recently completed filming on a movie about Yang Guifei; is currently filming a Suge Knight documentary; and has titles like Pablo Escobar, Hunter Killer, Storming Las Vegas and Ocean Beach in pre-production. That said, maybe Olympus Has Fallen is so good that it will rise to the top of the director's "must make" list.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.