The Playlist

Gerard Butler Replaces Liam Hemsworth In Sci-Fi Actioner 'The Raven'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 16, 2013 2:25 PM
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4 Comments

News

For a minute, it looked like Gerard Butler might be done. The Scottish actor had never quite cemented his stardom since breaking through with "300," and had a series of painfull and gigantic flops in the last few months, with both "Chasing Mavericks" and "Playing For Keeps" proving to be box office disasters. But then salvation arrived, in the unlikely shape of "Olympus Has Fallen," the White House-set "Die Hard" knock off that proved to be a surprise hit, currently nesting just under the $100 million mark.

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Weekend Box Office: 'The Croods' Notches Best Animated Opening Since November

By Gabe Toro
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March 24, 2013 11:33 AM
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0 Comments

Box Office

Normally, we’re besieged by animated fare during all months, but not so far in 2013. The only animated film of the year thus far was “Escape From Planet Earth,” a production from The Weinstein Company that was treated like a last minute dump, posting numbers that only counted as a hit compared to the film’s small budget and meager ad campaign. Before that, DreamWorks kept “Rise of the Guardians” active in over 3,000 sparsely-attended engagements, though over the holidays it seemed kids would rather toss snowballs around than watch a weirdly oppressive, vaguely non-denominational holiday movie. Which meant that all Fox had to do was not embarrass themselves with “The Croods,” supplying the kids market with a 3D diversion that stands as the second biggest opening of the year, far ahead of the middling 'Guardians' debut.

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Review: 'Olympus Has Fallen' A Thin, High-Concept Actioner Without Much Bite

By Drew Taylor
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March 21, 2013 9:56 AM
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2 Comments

Reviews

The new big budget, bullet-riddled actioner "Olympus Has Fallen" has a premise so painfully obvious that it's amazing nobody thought of it before, especially in the creatively bankrupt atmosphere of Hollywood. The plot is essentially "Die Hard" in the White House, with a similarly smart-ass loner (Gerard Butler) trapped in a massive building full of heavily armed terrorists, holding one very important man hostage (Aaron Eckhart, trading up from his district attorney position in "The Dark Knight" to President of the United States here). Unfortunately, "Olympus Has Fallen" fails to capture even a glimmer of the greatness of "Die Hard," instead coming across as a loud, crass, unpleasantly violent movie whose politics are muddier than its gauzy cinematography. (It should be noted, however, that it is markedly superior to the last actual "Die Hard" movie, the borderline unwatchable "A Good Day to Die Hard." Still.)

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Antoine Fuqua And The Cast Of 'Olympus Has Fallen' Discuss The Bumps & Bruises Of Action Filmmaking

By Gabe Toro
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March 20, 2013 10:58 AM
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0 Comments

Interviews

This weekend, Washington D.C. gets pulverized in “Olympus Has Fallen,” and director Antoine Fuqua wouldn’t have it any other way. The man in charge of this star-studded production boasted during press day of the glee he took in demolishing a national landmark, designed as a set in Shreveport, Louisiana. He looked forward every day to, “Tearing it up, shooting it up, making it real.”

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Watch: Gerard Butler Fights Suicide Bombers & Rocket Launching Terrorists In Red Band Clip For ‘Olympus Has Fallen’

By Diana Drumm
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March 18, 2013 6:29 PM
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4 Comments

News

“Olympus Has Fallen” fails to impress yet again with an intense-looking Gerard Butler as all that stands between terrorists and the president (Aaron Eckhart). In the red band clip below, Mike Banning (Butler), a disgraced Secret Service agent, takes on the role of John McClane without much of the “Yippee-ki-yay” pizzazz other than letting out an obligatory “Fuck!” As the terrorists take the White House (Secret Service Code: “Olympus”), Butler, police and White House security fail to stop them from entering and kidnapping the president, apparently. While stuck in the White House, Banning becomes a one-man effort to recover the president from the kidnappers, eliciting groans from an audience who has seen these elements before and/or are waiting for a better version.

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Watch: Storm The White House With 10 Clips From 'Olympus Has Fallen'

By India Ross
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March 13, 2013 11:23 AM
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1 Comment

News

FilmDistrict, the distributor behind upcoming shoot-‘em-up, “Olympus Has Fallen”, has generously released a ten-for-the price-of-one selection of teaser clips to tempt the patriotic moviegoer (stars and stripes feature heavily).

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Watch: Jimmy Kimmel Returns With 'Movie The Movie 2V' Featuring Jessica Chastain, Jude Law, Oprah Winfrey & More

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 25, 2013 9:39 AM
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1 Comment

News

So, the Oscars are over, and you're likely waking up today with a nacho cheese hangover and still wondering why so much of the broadcast was dedicated to "Chicago" and "Dreamgirls." But if you still had any kind of energy left over from the four-hour slog, perhaps you stayed up to watch "Jimmy Kimmel Live." And if not? Well, we have the magic of YouTube.

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Watch: Gerard Butler Tries To Save The White House (And His Career) In Trailer For 'Olympus Has Fallen'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 22, 2013 12:47 PM
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13 Comments

News

After "Machine Gun Preacher," "Playing For Keeps" and "Chasing Mavericks" (and we'll just go ahead an presume the omnibus comedy "Movie 43" is going to tank hard this weekend) Gerard Butler is in desperate need of a hit. Why on Earth he signed on to the cheaper, ripoff version of Roland Emmerich and Channing Tatum's "White House Down" is a question best left to his agent we guess, but FilmDistrict and Millenium are making sure theirs gets into theaters first. But judging by the new trailer for "Olympus Has Fallen," we'll be just fine waiting a few more months.

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Box Office: 'Playing For Keeps' Misses The Goal As 'Skyfall' Returns To #1

By Gabe Toro
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December 9, 2012 12:25 PM
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2 Comments

Box Office

The weekend after Thanksgiving is usually a down time, but studios ordinarily have a big bopper out during this timeframe. But this opening frame for December was fairly quiet, giving "Skyfall" a chance to take the top spot one more time before this month's blockbusters hit theaters. The picture has been a monster, now becoming Sony's top grossing picture of all time, with $1 billion worldwide in its sights. The franchise may be 50 years old, but 007 has never been more popular.

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Watch: 7 Clips From Gerard Butler's 'Playing For Keeps' Plus New Images

By Kevin Jagernauth
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November 19, 2012 1:16 PM
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0 Comments

News

To say that the December film lineup is crowded would be an understatement, but one movie hoping to cut through the fray is the soccer rom-com dramedy thing, "Playing For Keeps," and seven clips are now here to try and get one through the goalposts.

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