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By: John M Jerva
When one talks about action heroes and if there are any such contenders nowadays that would make the likes of Stallone and Schwarzenegger proud, few names usually pop up. From Scott Adkins to Jason Statham, these are the names that immediately come to mind and with good reason as they always bring the heat in their many action packed offerings.
Well, one such individual who definitely deserves action hero clout is Scotsman Gerard Butler. From his throwback action Has Fallen franchise to disaster epics like Geostorm and Greenland, Butler certainly warrants mention when the conversation comes up. Let’s not forget about the trippy video game inspired lunacy of Gamer which is most likely headed to cult status. Like I always say, his character of Mike Bannon is this generation’ John McClane.
Butler will next be seen in the escapist flick COPSHOP which has him going head on with another serious action star candidate in Frank Grillo. The film which was helmed by Joe Carnahan is poised and ready to set action film fans on fire when it hits next week.
In a recent interview with the UK site Unilad, Butler talked about the film and why he eventually decided to do it.
‘Weirdly, I had Copshop in my back pocket for quite a while. I just wasn’t sure if I was gonna go that way. It was in the middle of the pandemic, and I thought… you know what? This actually feels like the kind of movie where it can be outrageous, irreverent and a lot of fun, just complete escapism,’ he told UNILAD.
‘For me to get a chance to go play the villain, the hitman, a killer, brutal, but with some surprising elements to his character… you put all these crazy people into the one room essentially and have this stand-off, I thought we could get something that could be really fun, thrilling, exciting, scary, outrageous, surreal and then end up with complete mayhem. How can you not want to see that?’
Butler also has had a sequel to his Heat-esque crime thriller Den of Thieves and with that film being in development for around three years, Butler brought some light to the project and when we might see his character ‘Big Nick’ O’Brien of return.
‘We’re supposed to shoot early next year. We’re Europe-bound, we’re still on the hunt for Donnie who’s now on the diamond district in Marseilles. I go over to hunt him down, but with different intentions than you might imagine. So we’re gonna be in Marseilles, the Alps and London – it’s definitely a more glamorous journey than the last one, and probably a more fun, sexy journey.’
That certainly is welcome news as Den of Thieves was definitely another outstanding notch on Butler’s belt and fans have been waiting for any word on the project. Butler is also set to reprise his role of Mike Bannon in another Has Fallen follow up but it remains to be seen if his recent law suit against Lionsgate hasn’t strained relations for any more films in that franchise.
At any rate, Butler and Grillo are ready to do battle on September 17th when Copshop hits theaters nationwide!
Check out the adrenaline pumping trailer again!
[…] man and along with this project, he will also be set to film the sequel to Den of Thieves titled Den of Thieves: Pantera along with Greenland: Migration which is the follow up to his successful meteor disaster pic. Butler […]