According to Deadline, Lionsgate has officially decided to exit director Christian Gudegast’s Gerard Butler-led action film titled The Plane, after a year since successfully acquiring it at the American Film Market. The studio was forced to let go of the big project due to failing to obtain a pandemic insurance for its production that was supposed to start filming in Malaysia last month.
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Despite this major setback, the outlet notes that the film’s financiers MadRiver International and CAA Media Finance are still moving forward with the project by looking for another distributor that could provide and shoulder their needed pandemic protection.
The Plane centers around a commercial pilot named Ray Torrance, who, after a heroic job of successfully landing his storm-damaged aircraft in a war zone, finds himself caught between the agendas of multiple militias that are planning to take the plane and its passengers hostage.
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The film will be directed by Christian Gudegast, who have previously worked together with Butler on 2016’s London Has Fallen. It is co-written by Charles Cumming and JP Davis, based on a book by Cumming. The Plane will be produced by Butler and Alan Siegel through their G-Base banner along with MadRiver Pictures’ Marc Butan and Ara Keshishian. Di Bonaventura Pictures’ Lorenzo di Bonvaventura and Mark Vahradian will also be serving as producers.
