I guess the blurred “O” in the Focus Features logo is taking on a new meaning as the once independent arm of Universal Pictures has now merged with FilmDistrict and the newest project the studio will produce is London Has Fallen, a sequel to this year’s Olympus Has Fallen with Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell set to star.
The plot, according to Screen Daily, will focus on a plot to strike London during the funeral for the British Prime Minister. Only the President of the United States (Eckhart), his secret service head (Butler) and an English MI6 agent can save the day.
Antoine Fuqua directed the first film, which grossed more than $161 million worldwide, seemingly stealing the thunder from Roland Emmerich‘s White House Down, which managed $204 million worldwide on a budget of $150 million. The budget here is the key here, of course, being the budget considering Olympus was made for $70 million. Nevertheless, that still doesn’t make Olympus much of a success, but with a larger international focus for the sequel, it should mean bigger worldwide dollars.
Millennium Films is producing with a May 5, 2014 production start in London already slated. Focus will distribute domestically. As of now, however, a director has not yet been named, while Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger will again write the screenplay.
Just as interesting here, though, is this new direction for Focus, which will likely mean larger box office returns (or at least attempts for larger returns), but it hopefully doesn’t mean the studio will stray from the more independent features it’s become known for.
