Today we get our first look at Gerard Butler in Machine Gun Preacher. The upcoming drama from director Marc Forster is aiming for a Fall release (Sept. 23) and the film already has some Oscar buzz surrounding Butler’s performance. A strong supporting cast will back up Butler as Michelle Monaghan, Kathy Baker, and Michael Shannon will all show up in the film.
Butler will play “a reformed badass who established an orphanage in war-torn Sudan and then supervised a militia to protect the kids who were being kidnapped to become child soldiers.”
Personally, I’m excited for Machine Gun Preacher because of Gerard Butler. Sure, Forster is great (I love Finding Neverland) but Butler, if this truly is his chance for some awards recognition, then I couldn’t be happier. He’s a great actor who thus far, hasn’t starred in anything that would warrant any attention from awards circles.
300, RocknRolla and Law Abiding Citizen are all great films with strong performances from the actor. They’re not the type of films that would earn him any statue but I honestly thoroughly enjoyed his performance in each of them. He has made some duds (The Bounty Hunter, Gamer etc), but overall Butler is a strong actor who I would love to see nominated for some serious awards.