"London Has Fallen" Finds New Helmer

Scandinavian helmer Babak Najafi ("Easy Money II: Hard to Kill") is in talks to replace Fredrik Bond at the helm of "London Has Fallen," the upcoming sequel to last year's surprise hit "Olympus Has Fallen" says Heat Vision. Bond parted with the film earlier this month--the split was amicable and due to creative differences.

Several names were listed as contenders this past week including Wayne Blair ("The Sapphires") and Gary Fleder ("Runaway Jury"), but Najafi rose to the top.
The story deals with a plot to strike at London during the funeral of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Only the President of the United States, his secret service head and an English MI6 agent can save the day.

Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman are set to reprise their roles, while Angela Bassett and Melissa Leo and Radha Mitchell also star.

Christian Gudegast (A Man Apart, Sequestro) wrote the most recent draft of the script after Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger returned to write the first draft of the screenplay.

Butler, Alan Siegel, Mark Gill, Matthew O'Toole, and Danny Lerner will produce.

Avi Lerner's going to executive produce the pic.

'London' is slated to begin a four week partial shoot at the end of October with actors Freeman,  Eckhart, Bassett and Leo. Production will resume in February and run through April.

Butler won't be a part of the October filming due to his current commitments to shooting the sci-fi tale "Geostorm".