London Has Fallen



London Has Fallen is a 2016 American action thriller film directed by Babak Najafi and written by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Chad St. John and Christian Gudegast. It is a sequel to Antoine Fuqua's 2013 film Olympus Has Fallen and stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman, with Alon Aboutboul, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Jackie Earle Haley, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell, Sean O'Bryan, Waleed Zuaiter and Charlotte Riley in supporting roles. It is the second installment in the Fallen film series. The film follows a plot to assassinate the world leaders who are attending the funeral of the British Prime Minister in London and Secret Service agent Mike Banning's efforts to protect US President Benjamin Asher from being killed by the terrorists.

Filming began in London on October 24, 2014. A Christmas break started in November with filming resuming in February 2015. The film was released by Focus Features under their recently revived Gramercy Pictures label on March 4, 2016, and grossed $205 million worldwide. However, the critical reception was generally negative, with Variety accusing it of fear-mongering and "terrorsploitation" while The A.V. Club named it worst film of the year.

A third film, titled Angel Has Fallen, was released on August 23, 2019.

Plot
G8 intelligence services track down Pakistani arms dealer and terrorist mastermind Aamir Barkawi (Alon Moni Aboutboul) and authorize an US Air Force drone strike on his compound during his daughter's wedding, apparently killing Barkawi and his family.

Two years later, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom James Wilson dies suddenly, and world leaders prepare to attend his funeral in London. Director of the United States Secret Service Lynne Jacobs (Angela Bassett) assigns agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) to lead U.S. President Benjamin Asher’s (Aaron Eckhart) overseas security detail, even though Banning's wife Leah (Radha Mitchell) is due to give birth in a few weeks. The entourage arrives via Air Force One at Stansted Airport, and Banning arranges an earlier arrival at Somerset House in London via Marine One.

As Asher's Presidential State Car arrives at St Paul's Cathedral, coordinated attacks by mercenaries disguised as Metropolitan Police, the Queen's Guardsmen, and other first responders kill five Western leaders, damaging major landmarks and generating mass panic. Asher's early arrival throws off the St. Paul's attack, and Banning returns Asher and Jacobs to Marine One.

The terrorists destroy the helicopter’s escorts with Stinger missiles, forcing the damaged helicopter to crash-land in Hyde Park. Fatally injured, Jacobs makes Banning promise to stay alive for his unborn child, and to punish those responsible for the attack. Banning escorts Asher into the London Underground as the city's power is lost and residents shelter indoors.

In Washington, D.C., U.S. Vice President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) investigates the incident with British authorities while trying to track down the President. Trumbull receives a call from Barkawi, still alive and operating out of Yemen. Barkawi takes responsibility for the attacks coordinated by his son Kamran (Waleed Zuaiter), seeking revenge for the drone strike that killed his family, especially his daughter who was to be married that day.

Having poisoned Wilson to lure Western leaders to London, Barkawi knows Asher is still alive, and promises that if Kamran captures him, he will broadcast Asher’s execution online. Trumbull orders his staff to locate Barkawi's known operatives and find any connection to the attack, while British authorities stand down all first responders so any left in the open can be identified as terrorists.

After leaving a sign to be picked up by satellite, Banning leads Asher to an MI6 safe-house, where Jacquelin "Jax" Marshall (Charlotte Riley) briefs them. Marshall receives a voice message from Trumbull that they saw Banning's sign and an extraction team is en route. Security monitors display an approaching Delta Force team, but Banning suspects they have arrived too soon and are probably mercenaries hired by Barkawi and Kamran.

Banning’s suspicions are confirmed as he fights off the mercenaries and drives away with Asher, but their car is struck by the terrorists before they can reach the US Embassy, and Asher is taken. Banning is rescued by the combined Delta Force and SAS extraction team, who suspect there is a mole in the British government.

Trumbull's staff identify a building owned by Barkawi, drawing massive power despite being unoccupied, and suspect it is Kamran's headquarters. Banning joins the extraction team to infiltrate the building, arriving seconds before Kamran can decapitate Asher. Kamran escapes when his hacker Sultan drops a grenade with his dying breath, forcing Banning to protect Asher from the blast.

Banning and Asher escape just before the building is destroyed by the Delta Force/SAS squad, killing Kamran and the remaining terrorists. Marshall and British authorities restore London's security system and, discovering that MI5 Intelligence Chief John Lancaster (Patrick Kennedy) aided Barkawi's attack, she kills him when he goes for his own gun. Trumbull tells Barkawi that his plan failed, moments before the building is destroyed by another drone strike, killing Barkawi and his guards.

Two weeks later, Banning is home spending time with Leah and their newborn child Lynne, named after Jacobs. As Banning contemplates sending a letter of resignation, he watches Trumbull speak on television regarding the recent events, with a message that the U.S. will prevail. Inspired, Banning deletes the letter.

Cast

 * Gerard Butler as Secret Service Agent Mike Banning
 * Aaron Eckhart as US President Benjamin Asher
 * Morgan Freeman as US Vice President Allan Trumbull
 * Alon Aboutboul as Aamir Barkawi, an arms dealer and terrorist mastermind who is No. 6 on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.
 * Angela Bassett as Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs
 * Robert Forster as US Army General Edward Clegg, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
 * Jackie Earle Haley as White House Deputy Chief of Staff DC Mason
 * Melissa Leo as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan
 * Radha Mitchell as Leah Banning, Mike's wife.
 * Sean O'Bryan as NSA Deputy Director Ray Monroe
 * Charlotte Riley as MI6 Agent Jacquelin "Jax" Marshall
 * Waleed Zuaiter as Kamran Barkawi, Aamir's son and sub-commander
 * Colin Salmon as Commissioner Sir Kevin Hazard, head of the Metropolitan Police
 * Bryan Larkin as SAS Captain Will Davies
 * Patrick Kennedy as MI5 Counter-Intelligence Chief John Lancaster
 * Mehdi Dehbi as Sultan Mansoor, the terrorist hacker
 * Adel Bencherif as Raza Mansoor, Sultan's brother and a terrorist
 * Michael Wildman as Secret Service Agent Voight
 * Andrew Pleavin as Secret Service Agent Bronson
 * Deborah Grant as Doris, Leah's mother
 * Clarkson Guy Williams as British Prime Minister Leighton Clarkson
 * Penny Downie as Home Secretary Rose Kenter
 * Philip Delancy as French President Jacques Mainard
 * Alex Giannini as Italian Prime Minister Antonio Gusto. It was Giannini's last movie role before his death in October 2, 2015.
 * Elsa Mollien as Mrs Viviana Gusto
 * Nancy Baldwin as German Chancellor Agnes Bruckner
 * Nigel Whitmey as Canadian Prime Minister Robert Bowman
 * Julia Montgomery Brown as Mrs Bowman
 * Tsuwayuki Saotome as Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Nakushima
 * Lawrence O'Donnell as himself (uncredited)

Casting
Butler, Eckhart, Freeman, Bassett, Leo, Forster and Mitchell reprised their roles from Olympus Has Fallen. Production had been scheduled to begin in May 2015 in London, with Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt returning to write the script. Director Antoine Fuqua, however, did not return, due to his commitments with The Equalizer. On May 1, 2014, it was announced Focus Features had acquired distribution rights to the sequel, and would release the film on October 2, 2015. On August 18, 2014, it was announced that Charlie Countryman director Fredrik Bond would take over direction from Fuqua, but Bond left the film on September 18, six weeks before the shooting was to begin. On September 28, director Babak Najafi signed on to direct the film. On October 10, Jackie Earle Haley joined the film to play Deputy Chief Mason. On November 12, Mehdi Dehbi joined the film to play Sultan Mansoor, the youngest of three brothers whose life has been forever changed after a drone strike.

Filming
Principal photography began on October 24, 2014, in London. Four weeks of shooting were to take place, involving actors Freeman, Eckhart, Bassett and Melissa Leo, before a break for Christmas. Gerard Butler—who had been filming Geostorm in October—joined the shoot later, filming scenes with Eckhart in March 2015. A helicopter was seen making a landing in the courtyard of Somerset House. Butler and Angela Bassett were seen filming in Somerset House. Butler stated in an interview that the movie was also filmed in India and was to continue in Bulgaria. Then President of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev, visited the set of London Has Fallen during filming at Boyana Cinema Center in Bulgaria. Filming lasted through April 2015.

Score
The music was composed and conducted by Trevor Morris, who provided the score for the first film. The record was released on March 4, 2016, by Back Lot Music. The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with The Chamber Orchestra of London.

All music composed by Trevor Morris.

Release
On May 20, 2015, Focus Features relaunched their Gramercy Pictures label for action, horror, and science fiction releases, with London Has Fallen being one of Gramercy's first titles. The film was planned for an October 2, 2015, release, however, on June 12, 2015, it was announced that the film had been moved back to January 22, 2016, to avoid competition with The Martian, which swapped its original November 25 release date with Victor Frankenstein. On July 1, 2015, the film's teaser trailer was released. The timing of the release was criticized as "insensitive" by the Chair of the Tavistock Square Memorial Trust, Philip Nelson, as it coincided with the week of the 10th anniversary of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which 52 people were killed, and with the 2015 Sousse attacks, in which 30 British nationals were killed. On September 16, 2015, the film's release was moved back again to March 4, 2016, because the studios needed more time to finish the film's visual effects. The U.S. trailer was released on November 5, 2015. A new theatrical poster of the film was released on January 21, 2016.

Home media
London Has Fallen was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 14, 2016.

Box office
London Has Fallen grossed $62.7 million in North America and $143.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $205.9 million, against a budget of $60 million. The film outgrossed its predecessor's total of $170 million.

In the United States and Canada, pre-release tracking suggested the film would gross $20–23 million from 3,490 theaters in its opening weekend, trailing fellow newcomer Zootopia ($60–70 million projection) but besting Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ($10–12 million projection). The film made $850,000 from its Thursday night previews and $7.6 million on its first day. It went on to gross $21.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind Zootopia ($75 million).

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 26% based on 191 reviews, with an average rating of 3.96/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "London Has Fallen traps a talented cast – and all who dare to see it – in a mid-1990s basic-cable nightmare of a film loaded with xenophobia, and threadbare action-thriller clichés." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 28 out of 100, based on reviews from 35 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as the first film.

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club wrote: "A murky, brain-dead stab-a-thon packed with so many inane chases, laughable special effects, and mismatched stock footage shots that it begs to be made into a drinking game, London Has Fallen is one of those rare films that is good at absolutely nothing." The A.V. Club later picked it as their worst film of the year.

Controversy
Variety described London Has Fallen as "effortlessly racist" invoking "familiar Islamophobia", a "terrorsploitation" fantasy designed to spread fear after the November 2015 Paris attacks, and "ugly, reactionary fear-mongering." Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter styled it as "major world capitals destruction porn sub-genre" that feeds a "paranoia".

The film has been called "extremely insensitive" by families of the victims of the 7/7 bombings after an early trailer was released ahead of the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

Sequel
On October 26, 2016, it was announced that a sequel titled Angel Has Fallen is in development, with Gerard Butler reprising his role, as well as once again acting as a producer on the film.

On July 25, 2017, Ric Roman Waugh was announced as director for Angel Has Fallen. On January 10, 2018, Holt McCallany joined the cast as Wade Jennings, an ex-military turned head of a technology company. On January 18, 2018, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tim Blake Nelson were confirmed to appear in Angel Has Fallen. On February 13, 2018, Piper Perabo joined the cast. Filming started on February 7, 2018 in Virginia Water Lake.

The film was released on August 23, 2019.