Olympus Has Fallen, an action film starring Gerard Butler, was one of two movies about invasions of the White House released within months of each other last year, was the watchable and even rather enjoyable one. (The box-office flop White House Down was the other.) Although the plot was as unlikely as these action films tend to be, the film was directed relatively persuasively by Antione Fuqua (Training Day, Tears of the Sun, The Replacement Killers, Shooter) and had strong performances by Butler, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Rick Yune, and others.

Olympus Has Fallen thus grossed more than $160 million in theaters worldwide (on a production budget of $70 million) and was set for a sequel that would bring Butler back as Secret Service Agent Mike Banning. The sequel, London Is Falling, ran into trouble recently when director Fredrik Bond left the project in mid-September with only six weeks left before shooting was scheduled to begin. The production was in danger of being cancelled, but the Hollywood Reporter writes that Butler and the rest of the production team had settled on a choice and were in negotiations to strike a deal with Scandinavian director Babak Najafi (Banshee).

If they come to an agreement, shooting should begin on-time in London in October for an expected release date of October 2, 2015. Butler is always good, and the decision to follow the FOX TV action series 24 to London sounds like a sensible choice.