Olympus Has Fallen Butler Close Up - H 2013
FilmDistrictOlympus Has Fallen sequel London Has Fallen has a director.
Scandinavian helmer Babak Najafi, who directed the Snabba cash sequel Easy Money II: Hard to Kill is in talks to replace Fredrik Bond on the Millennium action movie.
Bond left over a week ago with the movie weeks away from shooting.
Millennium and star Gerard Butler immediately scrambled but last week, things were not looking good. Butler was not liking the directing prospects, and some sources say he was even mulling the idea of leaving the project.
Najafi, Wayne Blair (The Sapphires) and Gary Fleder (Runaway Jury) were names that surfaced by mid-week, with Najafi pulling ahead into dealmaking mode.
If a deal makes, Najafi will jump into a shoot that will be in two parts: London will lense for four weeks with principals Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett and Melissa Leo.
The production will then pause before picking up again in February, this time with Butler, and shoot until April. The two-phase shoot is to accommodate the actor, who is currently filming Geostorm for Warner Bros. and Skydance.
Najafi directed a couple of episodes of Cinemax series Banshee but London will be his English-language feature debut. He is repped by UTA and Magnolia Entertainment.
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