Gerard Butler says Angel Has Fallen takes the franchise in a new direction

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

I love OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN; It's ridiculous and over the top and such a guilty pleasure, but for whatever reason, I found the sequel, LONDON HAS FALLEN, to be completely forgettable. As LONDON HAS FALLEN was still a box-office success, we're getting a third installment of the series.

ANGEL HAS FALLEN will find Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) on the run to prove his innocence after being framed fro an assassination attempt on the president, and Butler told Entertainment Weekly that the new film will take the franchise in a new direction.

We could have just made Tokyo Has Fallen and people would have had a blast, but what else would we have been saying? I’m not just going to turn up; we had to take this in a new direction… It’s the same man in the same position, but it’s a much deeper, darker journey. There’s still huge set pieces and we made sure not to disappoint the fans of the first two, but you’re really inside this character, watching him try to get his sh— together.

I definitely like the sound of that a lot more than simply another globe-trotting sequel. Gerard Butler added that director Ric Roman Waugh (SHOT CALLER) and himself took inspiration from THE FUGITIVE, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, and TAKEN for a "more grounded, gritty" version of the script. Due the rigorous stunts and action, Butler gets beaten up a bit to bring these movies to life. "Mike’s gone through a lot, and I’ve gone through a lot," Butler laughed. "I went through this movie pretty beaten up, so it wasn’t hard for me to portray that character, because it felt I was kind of living it. I don’t know how many more of these I have left." That said, the actor is still willing to come back for more. "I feel like we’ve been brave in taking this new direction," Butler said. "If it pays off, then maybe we make a fourth. If it doesn’t, then hey, I had a blast."

ANGEL HAS FALLEN will hit theaters on August 23, 2019.