Plane film

 

Plane film

 

Plane is a 2023 American action thriller film directed by Jean-François Richet from a screenplay by Charles Cumming and J. P. Davis.^[5] The film stars Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, and Tony Goldwyn. The plot centers on a pilot (Butler) allying with a prisoner (Colter) to save his passengers from a hostile territory they landed in for an emergency landing.

The film was announced in 2016, acquired by Lionsgate in 2019, sold to Solstice Studios in 2020, and re-acquired by Lionsgate in 2021. It was shot in Puerto Rico. Plane was released in the United States on January 13, 2023. It received generally favorable reviews from critics and has grossed $52 million worldwide

Commercial pilot Brodie Torrance, a former RAF pilot from Scotland, flies Trailblazer Airlines Flight 119 with 14 passengers and three cabin crew members from Singapore to Honolulu via Tokyo. Among the passengers is fugitive homicide suspect Louis Gaspare, who is accompanied by an RCMP officer en route to Canada. Taking advice from one of his superiors, Brodie takes a shortcut across the South China Sea, but the plane is heavily damaged by a storm and a flight attendant and the RCMP officer are killed during the turbulence. The plane makes an emergency landing on what turns out to be Jolo island in the Philippines.

In New York City, the board of Trailblazer calls Scarsdale, their crisis manager. He dispatches a private military outfit to rescue the passengers, as the authorities are unwilling to send troops into the rebel-controlled island. Brodie goes off into the jungle for help, accompanied by Louis. At an abandoned warehouse, Brodie phones his superiors and daughter to tell their location, but is attacked by a rebel whom he subdues. They encounter a site used by the rebels to make ransom videos and race back to the plane, but are beaten to it by rebel leader Datu Junmar, who kills a Korean couple who try to escape and takes the surviving passengers and crew hostage, intending to secure large ransoms from their families.

After the group leaves, Brodie and Louis overpower remaining rebels and force them to reveal the location of their lair. Before leaving, Brodie leaves a note to inform rescue teams of the situation. At the rebel hideout, Brodie and Louis kill the guards and sneak the passengers and crew onto a bus. Brodie decides to stay behind to distract the rebels. As he is about to be executed, the rescue team arrives, inflicting heavy casualties on Junmar's men.

Back at the plane, Brodie and his copilot Samuel Dele manage to fire up the plane and gather everyone inside for takeoff. Scarsdale's group sets up a Barrett M82 counter-materiele rifle for increased firepower and together with Louis fight off Junmar's men. Louis chooses to stay behind to distract Junmar's forces and allow Scarsdale's team to board the plane, preventing an attempt by Junmar to blow up the plane with an RPG and later fleeing into the jungle with a bag of ransom money brought by the mercenaries. Despite being shot in the leg during the shootout, Brodie crushes Junmar under the plane's wheels during takeoff.

The plane is too damaged and too low on fuel to make a long journey, but Brodie manages to land the plane at the neighboring island of Siasi. As the passengers and crew are tended to by the island's rescue team, Brodie phones his daughter, telling her he is coming home.

Production[edit]

On July 13, 2016, MadRiver Pictures acquired The Plane, an original pitch from novelist Charles Cumming, with Marc Butan and Di Bonaventura Pictures' Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian announced as producers.^[6] In October 2019, it was reported that Gerard Butler had joined the cast and would also produce alongside Alan Siegel.^[7]

In November 2019, Lionsgate Films acquired distribution rights to the film,^[8][9] but in November 2020, it abandoned the project after failing to obtain production insurance that would cover a COVID-19 outbreak, as the studio did not want to risk the film's original $50 million budget,^[10] and Solstice Studios acquired the rights to the film.^[11] However, in May 2021, Lionsgate re-acquired the rights to The Plane, in what Andreas Wiseman from Deadline Hollywood described as a "case of high-profile Hollywood volleyball."^[12]

In August 2021, Kelly Gale,^[13] Mike Colter,^[14] Daniella Pineda,^[15] Yoson An,^[16] Remi Adeleke, Haleigh Hekking, Lilly Krug, Joey Slotnick, and Oliver Trevena joined the cast.^[17] Production began that same month in Puerto Rico.^[18] Michael Cho, Tim Lee, Gary Raskin, Alastair Burlingame, and Vicki Dee Rock were attached to the film as Executive Producers.^[19] On a podcast, Colter said the film was going to focus more on character development than action sequences.^[20] On October 11, 2021, it was reported that filming was close to finishing and that Tony Goldwyn and Paul Ben-Victor would also star.^[21]

Release[edit]

The film was released in theaters in the United States on January 13, 2023, by Lionsgate. It was previously set for release on January 27, 2023.^[22]

The film was released to VOD on February 3, 2023. It is set to be released on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K UHD on March 28, 2023.^[23]