A mere 24 hours after Lionsgate dropped the project due to an inability to acquire COVID insurance for the production, the Gerard Butler (Greenland)-led action pic The Plane is gearing up for take off again as Solstice Studios has acquired the rights to the film, according to Deadline.
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Following Lionsgate’s departure from the film, CAA Media Finance and MadRiver International confirmed to sources they would still be moving forward with the project and search for another distributor that could provide the extra finances for pandemic insurance.
Solstice, whose first film was also the first new film to hit theaters amidst the global pandemic with the Russell Crowe-led Unhinged and recently acquired the Mark Wahlberg Oscar hopeful Joe Bell, is self-insuring the production as the studio hopes to continue their theatrical release streak. Plans are for Butler to shoot another film, Kandahar, in the United Arab Emirates in January followed by The Plane at an estimated June 28, 2021 production start.
The Plane centers around a commercial pilot named Ray Torrance, who, after a heroic job of successfully landing his storm-damaged aircraft in a war zone, finds himself caught between the agendas of multiple militias that are planning to take the plane and its passengers hostage.
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The film will be directed by Christian Gudegast, who have previously worked together with Butler on 2016’s London Has Fallen. It is co-written by Charles Cumming and JP Davis, based on a story by Cumming and Gudegast. The Plane will be produced by Butler and Alan Siegel through their G-Base banner along with MadRiver Pictures’ Marc Butan and Ara Keshishian. Di Bonaventura Pictures’ Lorenzo di Bonvaventura and Mark Vahradian will also be serving as producers.
(Photo Credit: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
