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.
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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.
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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.