| London Has Fallen | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Babak Najafi |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Based on | Characters by
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ed Wild |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Trevor Morris |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 99 minutes[3] |
| Countries | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60 million[5][2] |
| Box office | $205.9 million[2] |
London Has Fallen is a 2016politicalactionthriller film directed byBabak Najafi and written by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Chad St. John, andChristian Gudegast. It is the sequel toOlympus Has Fallen (2013) and second installment in theHas Fallen film series, and starsGerard Butler,Aaron Eckhart, andMorgan Freeman, withAlon Moni Aboutboul,Angela Bassett,Robert Forster,Jackie Earle Haley,Melissa Leo,Radha Mitchell,Sean O'Bryan, andWaleed Zuaiter in supporting roles.
In the film, Secret Service agent Mike Banning must protect United States President Benjamin Asher from terrorists who orchestrated a threat against theG7 during theBritish Prime Minister's funeral in London.
Filming began in London on October 24, 2014. The film was released in the United States byFocus Features under their recently revivedGramercy Pictures label on March 4, 2016. It grossed $205.9 million worldwide and received negative reviews.
A third film, titledAngel Has Fallen, was released on August 23, 2019.
G8 intelligence services locatePakistaniarms trafficker andterrorist mastermind Aamir Barkawi at his compound and authorize a drone strike during his daughter's wedding, killing Barkawi's family and presumably Barkawi himself.
Two years later, theBritish Prime Minister James Wilson has suddenly died, and theG7 leaders prepare to attend his funeral inLondon.Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs assigns Agent Mike Banning to leadU.S. President Benjamin Asher's overseas security detail, although Banning's wife Leah is shortly to give birth.Air Force One lands atStansted Airport, and Banning arranges an earlier arrival atSomerset House in London viaMarine One.
As Asher'sPresidential car arrives atSt Paul's Cathedral, an army of mercenaries led by Barkawi's son Kamran launch coordinated attacks on the city. They are disguised asMetropolitan Police, theQueen's Guardsmen, and otherfirst responders, killing the leaders ofCanada,Germany,Japan,Italy, andFrance. They damage major landmarks and generate mass panic.
Asher's early arrival throws off the St. Paul's attack, and Banning returns Asher and Jacobs to Marine One. Terrorists withStinger missiles force a crash landing inHyde Park, killing Jacobs. Banning escorts Asher into theLondon Underground as the city's power is lost and residents shelter indoors.
InWashington, D.C.,Vice President Allan Trumbull investigates the incident with British authorities while trying to track down Asher. He receives a call from Barkawi, still alive and inSanaa. Seeking revenge for the drone strike that killed his daughter and having poisoned Wilson to lure the G7 leaders to London, Barkawi promises tolivestream Asher's execution when Kamran captures him.
Trumbull orders his staff to locate Barkawi's businesses to find any connection to the attack, while British authorities stand down all first responders so those left in the open can be identified as terrorists. After leaving a sign to be picked up by satellite, Banning leads Asher to a safe-house, whereMI6 Agent Jacquelin Marshall briefs them. Marshall receives a voice message from Trumbull that they saw Banning's sign, and an extraction team is en route.
Security monitors display an approachingDelta Force team, but Banning realizes they are actually Barkawi's men. He kills them all and drives away with Asher, but their car is struck before they can reach theU.S. Embassy, and Asher is taken. Banning is rescued by anSAS extraction team, who suspect amole in the British government.
Trumbull's staff identify a building owned by one of Barkawi's front companies, drawing massive power despite being seemingly unoccupied, and deduces it as Kamran's headquarters. Banning infiltrates it seconds before Kamran can kill Asher on live coverage. Kamran escapes when his brother, Sultan Mansoor, drops a grenade before being killed, forcing Banning to protect Asher from the blast.
They escape just before the building is destroyed by the SAS, using an explosive Banning had planted earlier, killing Kamran and the remaining terrorists. Marshall helps British authorities restore London's security system and, discovering thatMI5 Intelligence Chief John Lancaster is Barkawi's mole, kills Lancaster when he resists arrest. Trumbull tells Barkawi that his plan failed, moments before another drone strike kills him.
Two weeks later, as London recovers, Banning is home with Leah and their newborn child Lynne, named after Jacobs. As he drafts a resignation letter, he watches Trumbull speak on television about recent events. Inspired, Banning deletes the letter.
In addition, theMSNBC news anchorLawrence O'Donnell appears, uncredited, as an unnamed news anchor reporting on the developments in London, reprising his role from the first film.
In October 2013, it was announced that Butler, Eckhart, Freeman, Bassett, Leo, Forster and Mitchell would reprise their roles fromOlympus Has Fallen.[8] Production had been scheduled to begin in May 2015 in London, with Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt returning to write the script. Director Antoine Fuqua, however, did not return, due to his commitments withThe Equalizer.[9] On May 1, 2014, it was announcedFocus Features had acquired distribution rights to the sequel, and would release the film on October 2, 2015.[10] On August 18, 2014, it was announced thatCharlie Countryman director Fredrik Bond would take over direction from Fuqua,[11] but Bond left the film on September 18, six weeks before the shooting was to begin.[12] On September 28, director Babak Najafi signed on to direct the film.[13] On October 10,Jackie Earle Haley joined the film to play Deputy Chief Mason.[14] On November 4, 2014, in a press release confirming that filming had started, it was also confirmed thatSean O'Bryan was reprising his role from the first film, whileAlon Aboutboul,Charlotte Riley andWaleed Zuaiter were also in the cast.[15] On November 12,Mehdi Dehbi joined the film to play Sultan Mansoor, the youngest of three brothers whose life has been forever changed after a drone strike.[16] ScotsmanBryan Larkin, who playsSAS Commander Will Davies, joined the cast as a "posh English guy", but Najafi and Butler made an on-set decision to have him use his natural Scottish accent.[17]
Principal photography began on October 24, 2014, in London.[18] Four weeks of shooting were to take place, involving actors Freeman, Eckhart, Bassett and Melissa Leo, before a break for Christmas. Butler and Angela Bassett were seen filming in Somerset House.[19] Production also took place atPinewood Studios.[20] Butler stated in an interview that the movie was also filmed in India and was to continue in Bulgaria.[21] ThenPresident of Bulgaria,Rosen Plevneliev, visited the set ofLondon Has Fallen during filming at theBoyana Film Studios in Bulgaria.[22][23] Filming lasted through April 2015.[13]
The music was composed and conducted byTrevor Morris, who provided the score for the first film.[24] The record was released on March 4, 2016, by Back Lot Music.[25] The score was recorded atAbbey Road Studios with The Chamber Orchestra of London.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "London Has Fallen" | 1:58 |
| 2. | "Spotting Barkawi" | 2:25 |
| 3. | "Bourbon and Poor Choices" | 1:17 |
| 4. | "Nursery" | 0:49 |
| 5. | "Scotland Yard" | 0:57 |
| 6. | "President Arrives in the UK" | 0:49 |
| 7. | "Motorcade / Marine One Lands" | 1:44 |
| 8. | "London Attacked" | 4:53 |
| 9. | "London Goes Dark" | 1:49 |
| 10. | "Marine One Crash" | 3:20 |
| 11. | "Jacob's Death" | 1:42 |
| 12. | "Not Much of a Talker" | 1:57 |
| 13. | "How Bad Is It?" | 1:03 |
| 14. | "I'm Not Going to Die on YouTube" | 9:04 |
| 15. | "Don't Jinx Me" | 4:04 |
| 16. | "Right Under Our Noses" | 3:51 |
| 17. | "Rescuing Asher" | 12:30 |
| 18. | "Hand Fight and Hand Grenade" | 1:59 |
| 19. | "Let's Get Outta Here" | 1:41 |
| 20. | "I Hate Funerals" | 1:18 |
| 21. | "Traitor" | 2:12 |
| 22. | "Reciprocity" | 1:44 |
| 23. | "Resignation Letter" | 0:50 |
| 24. | "End Titles / Credits" | 1:26 |
| Total length: | 52:00 | |
On May 20, 2015,Focus Features relaunched theirGramercy Pictures label for action, horror, and science fiction releases, withLondon Has Fallen being one of Gramercy's first titles.[1] The film was planned for an October 2, 2015 release; however, on June 12, 2015, it was announced that the film had been moved back to January 22, 2016, to avoid competition withThe Martian, which swapped its original November 25 release date withVictor Frankenstein.[26][27] The timing of the release was criticized as "insensitive" by the Chair of the Tavistock Square Memorial Trust, Philip Nelson, as it coincided with the week of the 10th anniversary of the7 July 2005 London bombings, in which 52 people were killed, and with the2015 Sousse attacks, in which 30 British nationals were killed.[28] On September 16, 2015, the film's release was moved back again to March 4, 2016, because the studios needed more time to finish the film's visual effects.[29]
London Has Fallen was released onBlu-ray and DVD on June 14, 2016.
London Has Fallen grossed $62.7 million in North America and $143.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $205.8 million, against a budget of $60 million.[2] The film outgrossed its predecessor's total of $170 million.
In the United States and Canada, pre-release tracking suggested the film would gross $20–23 million from 3,490 theaters in its opening weekend, alongsideZootopia andWhiskey Tango Foxtrot.[30] The film made $850,000 from its Thursday night previews and $7.6 million on its first day. It went on to gross $21.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behindZootopia ($75 million).[31]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 28% based on 197 reviews, with an average rating of 4.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "London Has Fallen traps a talented cast—and all who dare to see it—in a mid-1990s basic-cable nightmare of a film loaded with xenophobia and threadbare action-thriller clichés."[32] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 28 out of 100, based on reviews from 35 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[33] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale,[31] the same score as the first film.[34]
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky ofThe A.V. Club wrote: "A murky, brain-dead stab-a-thon packed with so many inane chases, laughable special effects, and mismatched stock footage shots that it begs to be made into a drinking game,London Has Fallen is one of those rare films that is good at absolutely nothing."[35]The A.V. Club later picked it as their worst film of the year.[36]
The Hollywood Reporter mentioned that "Butler manfully dispenses justice here many times over, and even if the other main actors are in it strictly for the paycheck, they’ve all been in a whole lot worse in their time".[37]
Variety describedLondon Has Fallen as "effortlessly racist" invoking "familiar Islamophobia", a "terrorsploitation" fantasy designed to spread fear after theNovember 2015 Paris attacks, and "ugly, reactionary fear-mongering."[38]Meanwhile,The Hollywood Reporter styled it as "major world capitals destruction porn sub-genre".[38]
The film has been called "extremely insensitive" by families of the victims of the7/7 bombings after an early trailer was released ahead of the 10th anniversary of the attacks.[39]
On October 26, 2016, it was announced that a sequel titledAngel Has Fallen was in development, with Gerard Butler reprising his role, as well as once again acting as a producer on the film.[40]
On July 25, 2017, Ric Roman Waugh was announced as director forAngel Has Fallen.[41] On January 10, 2018,Holt McCallany joined the cast as Wade Jennings, an ex-military turned head of a technology company,[42] but was replaced later byDanny Huston. On January 18, 2018,Jada Pinkett Smith andTim Blake Nelson were confirmed to appear inAngel Has Fallen. On February 13, 2018,Piper Perabo joined the cast.[43] Filming started on February 7, 2018[44] inVirginia Water Lake.[45]
The film was released on August 23, 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)Eye candy Gerard Butler is the new ambassador for Boss Bottled
