VOD Spotlight: London Has Fallen

After the success of 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen, the idea of a sequel was probably not unexpected. But, the team involved in making the film didn’t want to simply rehash that which had worked before. Producer Les Weldon says, of the follow-up London Has Fallen, “to make the sequel, we had to take a step back because we didn’t want to just do the same thing again. The idea was to open it up, since the first movie was focused in and around the White House. We wanted to increase the scope of a second movie to make it a bigger experience for the audience.”

“We all felt there should be a progression of the main characters; in a lot of sequels, with the characters in the first film established they then carry on to the second one and nothing changes. We’ve seized the opportunity to expand their stories: the Bannings (played by Gerard Butler and Radha Mitchell) are starting a family, Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) is now the Vice President, and Asher has this bond with Banning based on what they went through in the first movie.”

As Aaron Eckhart, who reprises his role as President Benjamin Asher, states, “All the action and the attitude that people loved in Olympus Has Fallen comes through again. Audiences expect as much from Gerry, and he’s really into it!

Actress Melissa Leo (here reprising her Olympus Has Fallen role of Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan) chimes in saying she “wasn’t surprised at all by the success of the first movie; Gerry Butler makes for a great hero. For me, to be able to spend time working with Morgan Freeman and Robert Forster – actors I’ve watched all my life – was a joy and a pleasure, so it was wonderful to get to do that again.”

Angela Bassett, encoring as Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs says “what really resonated with moviegoers and made the first film a huge success was the ideal of good overcoming evil, of one man saving the day. We wanted to recapture that. The stakes are even higher in London Has Fallen.”

London Has Fallen is available beginning June 14 on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.

© 2016 Focus Features All Rights Reserved Credits: Jack English/Gramercy Pictures (Eckhart); David Appleby/Gramercy Pictures (Freeman)