Gerard Butler will not be going to Motor City.
Gerard Butler fans, put on your sad faces–Deadline reports that his next movie, “Motor City,” has run out of gas (yes, plenty of bad puns to be made here). Filming was supposed to begin on September 17, but the crew has been told to go home. Albert Hughes was set to direct the “revenge drama,” with Adrian Brody and Mickey Rourke also in the cast.
You’d usually think something like this happened because backers pulled out or financing fell apart in some other way. In this case, though, it had to do with a “hard release date” from Warner Brothers that they felt wouldn’t give them enough time for post-production. Not being able to release through WB would cause problems with plans for foreign distribution and their ability to secure a bond, so they shut down production.
Here’s a statement from the producers and financiers (including Emmett/Furla Films, Envision Entertainment and Mark Damon’s Foresight):
“Faced with the realities of a very short post-production schedule and complicated visual and special effects, the producers have decided to push back production on Albert Hughes’ Motor City. We are dedicated to delivering top-tier productions such as 2 Guns starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg which is currently in production and Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor which is in pre-production. The circumstances surrounding this project made it impossible to meet the firm March 31st delivery date without compromising the quality of the film.”
They’re hoping to pull the production back together at some point under a different deal. Who knows if the cast will be able to stick around, though.
Butler fans, don’t despair–he’ll be seen in two movies this fall, “Chasing Mavericks” and “Playing for Keeps.”
