It looks like Gerard Butler will be taking a turn for the more serious this Fall when he stars in director Marc Forster‘s latest film, Machine Gun Preacher. The trailer went online back in August and the film has been slowly starting to gain some serious buzz, possibly even Oscar buzz for Mr. Butler himself.
Lately Butler has been starring in mindless action films, but it appears that he’s looking to impress in Machine Gun Preacher. He plays Sam Childers, a former drug dealer who finds his heart and becomes a preacher and savior of orphaned children who are forced into war.
I personally like Butler’s turn for the more dramatic and I hope it works out for him. The film sounds interesting enough and I think Butler can carry it, but just in case he has any problems he will be backed up by the always good Michael Shannon and Michelle Monaghan, who appear to be playing supporting roles.
An odd note to mention is Shannon has yet to be sighted in any trailers or this first clip, courtesy of Yahoo. I hope he has a decent sized role and not just a quick scene because his presence always elevates a film from good to better!
Machine Gun Preacher goes in limited release in the U.S. on September 23rd.
Check out the first clip below.
Synopsis:
In this inspirational true story, Machine Gun Preacher is about Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who undergoes an astonishing transformation and finds an unexpected calling as the savior of hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children. Gerard Butler (300) delivers a searing performance as Childers, the impassioned founder of the Angels of East Africa rescue organization in Golden Globe-nominated director Marc Forster’s (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland) moving story of violence and redemption.
When ex-biker-gang member Sam Childers (Butler) makes the life-changing decision to go to East Africa to help repair homes destroyed by civil war, he is outraged by the unspeakable horrors faced by the region’s vulnerable populace, especially the children. Ignoring the warnings of more experienced aide workers, Sam breaks ground for an orphanage where it’s most needed—in the middle of territory controlled by the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a renegade militia that forces youngsters to become soldiers before they even reach their teens.
But for Sam, it is not enough to shelter the LRA’s intended victims. Determined to save as many as possible, he leads armed missions deep into enemy territory to retrieve kidnapped children, restoring peace to their lives—and eventually his own. The explosive, real-life tale of a man who has rescued over a thousand orphans from starvation, disease and enslavement, Machine Gun Preacher also stars Michelle Monaghan (Due Date), Kathy Baker (Cold Mountain), Madeline Carroll (Mr. Popper’s Penguins), Academy Award® nominated Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) and Souleyman Sy Savane (“Damages”).