Hayley Atwell, Gerard Butler set for action thriller Empire City

Gerard Butler and Hayley Atwell are co-starring in action thriller Empire City. And filming has got under way. Gerard Butler, happily, has a queue of films on the way that I’m already really rather keen to see. Greenland 2 – known as Greenland: Migration – already in the can, and we await news of a ... Hayley Atwell, Gerard Butler set for action thriller Empire City

Gerard Butler and Hayley Atwell are co-starring in action thriller Empire City. And filming has got under way.

Gerard Butler, happily, has a queue of films on the way that I’m already really rather keen to see. Greenland 2 – known as Greenland: Migration – already in the can, and we await news of a UK release date. He’s shot a role in Jamie Foxx’s All-Star Weekend, and is committed to How To Train Your Dragon 2 as well. Oh, and there’s Den Of Thieves 3 on the way.

But you can add to the list a new action thriller, that appears to have jumped the queue. It’s called Empire City, and The Butler will be co-starring with Hayley Atwell.

It’s been on the stove for a while, this. S Craig Zahler – the director of Bone Tomahawk and Brawl In Cell Block 99 – has co-written the script with Brian Tucker. Now, Michael Matthews, who directed Love & Monsters, will also be directing this film. And the plan was to start filming the movie last year. Dates, as you might have gleaned, shifted a little.

The plot involves a hostage situation, with Butler a member of the fire service, and Atwell playing a police officer. The pair are married in the film too, just to add a bit of peril and emotional stakes.

Can the hostages be saved? Will Hayley Atwell and Gerard Butler emerge victorious? I mean, the chances are pretty good on all fronts, but we won’t find out for certain for a year or so.

We now learn that filming has got underway on Empire City, with the shoot taking place in Melbourne. It should therefore be wrapped up by Easter, and while no release date has thus far been announced, don’t be surprised to see Empire City on the schedules for early 2027.

More, of course, as we hear it.