The sequel begins in London, where the British Prime Minister has passed away under mysterious circumstances. His funeral is a must-attend event for leaders of the Western world. But what starts out as the most protected event on earth, turns into a deadly plot to kill the world's most powerful leaders and unleash a terrifying vision of the future. Only three people have any hope of stopping it: the President of the United States, his formidable secret service head (Butler), and an English MI-6 agent who rightly trusts no one.

Fredrik Bond, who directed the Shia LaBeouf drama Charlie Countryman, is in negotiations to direct Olympus Has Fallen sequel London Has Fallen for Millennium.

Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman are reprising their roles for the feature, which moves the action from the lawn of the White House to London.

The three main characters — a U.S. Secret Service agent (Butler), the U.S. president (Eckhart) and the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (Freeman) — are attending the funeral of the British prime minister when all hell breaks loose (again). Christian Gudegast wrote the most recent draft of the script.

The movie, which Focus Features will distribute domestically, is eyeing an October start date.

Butler, Alan Siegel, Mark Gill, and Matt O'Toole are producing.

Bond is a music video director who made his feature debut with Countryman, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Bond has been on the list of many big projects that were in search of helmers (he was on the shortlist for Pirates of the Caribbean 5) and with Fallen he gets his hands on a high-profile sequel.

He is repped by CAA, Management 360 and Sloane Offer.

Troubled 'Olympus Has Fallen' Sequel Finds Director
3:49 PM PDT 9/28/2014 by Borys Kit

Olympus 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.

‘Olympus Has Fallen’ Sequel Lands Jackie Earle Haley As First New Cast Member (Exclusive)

Oscar-nominated actor Jackie Earle Haley (“Little Children,” “Watchmen”) has closed a deal to join “London Has Fallen,” the sequel to last year's sleeper hit “Olympus Has Fallen” that's being mounted by Focus Features and Millennium Films, TheWrap has learned.

Babak Najafi (“Easy Money II”) is directing the movie, which will reunite original stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo, Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell.

Butler returns as a U.S. Secret Service agent tasked with stopping a terrorist threat — this time overseas. When he attends the British prime minister's funeral with the U.S. president (Eckhart) and Speaker of the House (Freeman), a deadly plot to kill powerful world leaders reveals itself.

Haley will play Deputy Chief Mason, though character details were not immediately available.

Christian Gudegast wrote the script with original scribes Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, whose “Olympus Has Fallen” grossed nearly $100 million at the domestic box office.

Butler is producing with Alan Siegel, Mark Gill and Matt O'Toole, while Millennium's Avi Lerner and Focus Features CEO Peter Schlessel will executive produce with Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Christine Crow.

Haley recently co-starred in Martin Scorsese's “Shutter Island,” “Steven Spielberg's “Lincoln,” Tim Burton's “Dark Shadows” and Sony's “RoboCop” remake. Haley is also in post-production on his directorial debut “Criminal Activities,” in which he stars alongside John Travolta, Dan Stevens and Michael Pitt. He's represented by WME, Leslie Allan-Rice Management and attorney Todd Rubenstein.

The sequel to the worldwide smash hit “Olympus Has Fallen,” a non-stop, suspenseful action thriller that delivers high-octane excitement through a heightened sense of authenticity. The visceral intensity springs from a timely premise: after the British Prime Minister passes away, his funeral becomes a target of a terrorist organization to destroy some of the world’s most powerful leaders, devastate the British capital, and unleash a terrifying vision of the future. The only hope of stopping it rests on the shoulders of the President of the United States (Aaron Eckhart) and his formidable Secret Service head (Gerard Butler), and an English MI-6 agent (Charlotte Riley) who rightly trusts no one. Morgan Freeman also stars as the Vice President of the United States.