London Has Fallen

Plot

G8 intelligence services locate Pakistani arms trafficker and terrorist mastermind Aamir Barkawi at his compound and authorize a drone strike during his daughter's wedding, killing Barkawi's family and presumably Barkawi himself. Two years later, the British Prime Minister James Wilson has suddenly died, and the G7 leaders prepare to attend his funeral in London. Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs assigns Agent Mike Banning to lead U.S. President Benjamin Asher's overseas security detail, although Banning's wife Leah is shortly to give birth. Air Force One lands at Stansted Airport, and Banning arranges an earlier arrival at Somerset House in London via Marine One.

As Asher's Presidential car arrives at St Paul's Cathedral, an army of mercenaries led by Barkawi's son Kamran launch coordinated attacks on the city. They are disguised as Metropolitan Police, the Queen's Guardsmen, and other first responders, killing the leaders of Canada, Germany, Japan, Italy, and France. They damage major landmarks and generate mass panic. Asher's early arrival throws off the St. Paul's attack, and Banning returns Asher and Jacobs to Marine One.

Islamic terrorists with Stinger missiles force a crash landing in Hyde Park, killing Jacobs. Banning escorts Asher into the London Underground as the city's power is lost and residents shelter indoors. In Washington, D.C., Vice President Allan Trumbull investigates the incident with British authorities while trying to track down Asher. He receives a call from Barkawi, still alive and in Sanaa.

Seeking revenge for the drone strike that killed his daughter and having poisoned Wilson to lure the G7 leaders to London, Barkawi promises to livestream Asher's execution when Kamran captures him. Trumbull orders his staff to locate Barkawi's businesses to find any connection to the attack, while British authorities stand down all first responders so those left in the open can be identified as terrorists. After leaving a sign to be picked up by satellite, Banning leads Asher to a safe-house, where MI6 Agent Jacquelin Marshall briefs them. Marshall receives a voice message from Trumbull that they saw Banning's sign, and an extraction team is en route.

Security monitors display an approaching Delta Force team, but Banning realizes they are actually Barkawi's men. He kills them all and drives away with Asher, but their car is struck before they can reach the U.S. Embassy, and Asher is taken. Banning is rescued by an SAS extraction team, who suspect a mole in the British government. Trumbull's staff identify a building owned by one of Barkawi's front companies, drawing massive power despite being seemingly unoccupied, and deduces it as Kamran's headquarters.

Banning infiltrates it seconds before Kamran can kill Asher on live coverage. Kamran escapes when his brother, Sultan Mansoor, drops a grenade before being killed, forcing Banning to protect Asher from the blast. They escape just before the building is destroyed by the SAS, using an explosive Banning had planted earlier, killing Kamran and the remaining terrorists. Marshall helps British authorities restore London's security system and, discovering that MI5 Intelligence Chief John Lancaster is Barkawi's mole, kills Lancaster when he resists arrest.

Trumbull tells Barkawi that his plan failed, moments before another drone strike kills him. Two weeks later, as London recovers, Banning is home with Leah and their newborn child Lynne, named after Jacobs. As he drafts a resignation letter, he watches Trumbull speak on television about recent events. Inspired, Banning deletes the letter.

Cast

Gerard Butler plays Secret Service Agent and former Army Ranger RRC Mike Banning. Aaron Eckhart plays President Benjamin Asher. Morgan Freeman plays Vice President Allan Trumbull. Alon Moni Aboutboul plays Aamir Barkawi, a Pakistani international arms trafficker and terrorist mastermind who is No. 6 on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.

Casting

Angela Bassett plays Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs. Robert Forster plays United States Army General Edward Clegg, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Jackie Earle Haley plays White House Deputy Chief of Staff DC Mason. Melissa Leo plays Defense Secretary Ruth McMillan.

Radha Mitchell plays Leah Banning, Mike's wife. Sean O'Bryan plays NSA Deputy Director Ray Monroe. Waleed Zuaiter plays Kamran Barkawi, Aamir's son and sub-commander. Charlotte Riley plays MI6 Agent Jacquelin 'Jax' Marshall.

Colin Salmon plays Sir Kevin Hazard, Commissioner (credited as 'Chief') of the Metropolitan Police. Bryan Larkin plays SAS Commander Will Davies. Patrick Kennedy plays MI5 Counter-Intelligence Chief John Lancaster. Mehdi Dehbi plays Sultan Mansoor, the terrorist hacker.

Adel Bencherif plays Raza Mansoor, Sultan's brother and a terrorist. Michael Wildman plays Secret Service Agent Voight. Andrew Pleavin plays Secret Service Agent Bronson.

Deborah Grant plays Doris, Leah's mother. Clarkson Guy Williams plays British Prime Minister Leighton Clarkson. Penny Downie plays Home Secretary Rose Kenter. Philip Delancy plays French President Jacques Mainard, who is killed by a Thames cargo barge planted with explosives.

Alex Giannini plays Italian Prime Minister Antonio Gusto, who is killed by an explosion at Westminster Abbey. It was Giannini's last movie role before his death on October 2, 2015. Elsa Mollien plays Viviana Gusto, Antonio Gusto's wife. Nancy Baldwin plays German Chancellor Agnes Bruckner, who is killed by Islamic terrorists disguised as royal guards at Buckingham Palace.

Nigel Whitmey plays Canadian Prime Minister Robert Bowman, who is killed by a bomb planted under his limousine as it passes Trafalgar Square. Julia Montgomery Brown plays Mrs Bowman, Robert Bowman's wife. Tsuwayuki Saotome plays Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Nakushima, who is killed when the Chelsea Bridge is destroyed while his car is sitting in traffic. In addition, the MSNBC news anchor Lawrence O'Donnell appears, uncredited, as an unnamed news anchor reporting on the developments in London, reprising his role from the first film.

Production

In October 2013, it was announced that Butler, Eckhart, Freeman, Bassett, Leo, Forster and Mitchell would reprise their roles from Olympus Has Fallen. Production had been scheduled to begin in May 2015 in London, with Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt returning to write the script. Director Antoine Fuqua, however, did not return, due to his commitments with The Equalizer. On May 1, 2014, it was announced Focus Features had acquired distribution rights to the sequel, and would release the film on October 2, 2015.

On August 18, 2014, it was announced that Charlie Countryman director Fredrik Bond would take over direction from Fuqua, but Bond left the film on September 18, six weeks before the shooting was to begin. On September 28, director Babak Najafi signed on to direct the film. On October 10, Jackie Earle Haley joined the film to play Deputy Chief Mason. On November 4, 2014, in a press release confirming that filming had started, it was also confirmed that Sean O'Bryan was reprising his role from the first film, while Alon Aboutboul, Charlotte Riley and Waleed Zuaiter were also in the cast.

On November 12, Mehdi Dehbi joined the film to play Sultan Mansoor, the youngest of three brothers whose life has been forever changed after a drone strike. Scotsman Bryan Larkin, who plays SAS Commander Will Davies, joined the cast as a 'posh English guy', but Najafi and Butler made an on-set decision to have him use his natural Scottish accent. Principal photography began on October 24, 2014, in London. Four weeks of shooting were to take place, involving actors Freeman, Eckhart, Bassett and Melissa Leo, before a break for Christmas.

Filming

Butler and Angela Bassett were seen filming in Somerset House. Production also took place at Pinewood Studios. Butler stated in an interview that the movie was also filmed in India and was to continue in Bulgaria. Then President of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev, visited the set of London Has Fallen.