Over the last decade, Gerard Butler has carved out a solid niche for himself as one of the biggest stars in the B-level action movie realm. Films like the Fallen trilogy, Geostorm, Den of Thieves and Hunter Killer aren’t designed for awards season glory or to engage your brain, but the 50 year-old is always a reliably gruff presence in roles that don’t ask much more from him than furrowing his brow and punching bad guys in the face.
Butler’s latest effort sees him re-teaming with his Angel Has Fallen director Ric Roman Waugh in mid-budget disaster flick Greenland, which will hopefully turn out a lot better than the last time the 300 star tried his hand at the genre in Dean Devlin’s Geostorm, as that pic ended up as a huge box office bomb.
The plot follows a family man who tries to keep his wife and son free from harm on a cross country journey to reach the safety of the titular nation’s impenetrable bunkers after scientists discover that a comet is on a direct collision course with Earth, and the consequences could be cataclysmic. It sounds like absolute nonsense, but the leading man’s presence alone guarantees disposable Friday night entertainment at the very least.
Greenland was originally scheduled to hit theaters in June, but after several delays as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s now been pulled from the schedule entirely. Instead, the movie will be available to purchase on Amazon Prime in two weeks. At least, domestically it will be.
The action thriller has already scored a release in several international territories where it’s so far raked in almost $18 million at the box office, and is well on the way to recouping the modest $34 million budget. Reviews have been mediocre, too, but we’ll have to wait until next month when Gerard Butler’s latest becomes available buy on Prime starting October 13th and to rent from October 27th to see for ourselves how it turned out.