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. The film stars Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, and Tony Goldwyn. The plot centers on a pilot (Butler) allying with a prisoner to save his passengers from a hostile territory in which they make 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 $74.5 million worldwide.

Plot
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/GRC officer en route to Canada. Per a directive from one of his superiors, Brodie takes a shortcut across the South China Sea, but a lightning strike blows the plane's avionics and a flight attendant and the RCMP officer are killed during the turbulence. They make an emergency landing on a dirt strip of what turns out to be Jolo island in the Philippines.

In New York City, the board of Trailblazer calls David Scarsdale, their crisis manager. He dispatches a private military unit 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 wires the phone to call his superiors and daughter to tell their location. He succeeds but is attacked by a rebel whom he kills. Louis also kills other rebels in the building. 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 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. The rescue team tells Brodie that the airline cannot send in a formal team to remove them from the island for another 24 hours, and they have insufficient contingency money to negotiate their way off the island. Brodie tells the rescue team that he has another plan.

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 anti-materiel 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 and a terrorist to blow up the plane with an RPG, and he flees into the jungle with a bag of ransom money brought by the mercenaries. Angered and desperate, Junmar attempts to use another RPG in a last ditch effort to destroy the plane and wounds Brodie again, this time, in the shoulder. But Brodie (despite his injuries) is able to put the plane on full throttle, allowing it to take off safely and hit Junmar with the wheels, killing him.

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 friendly 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.

Cast

 * Gerard Butler as Brodie Torrance, a former RAF officer who is now a commercial pilot
 * Mike Colter as Louis Gaspare, a former GCP French Foreign Legion passenger being extradited to Toronto on charges of homicide
 * Tony Goldwyn as Scarsdale, a former Special Forces officer who leads the rescue effort
 * Yoson An as Samuel Dele, Torrance's co-pilot
 * Evan Dane Taylor as Datu Junmar, a local warlord and terrorist leader on Jolo
 * Paul Ben-Victor as Terry Hampton, the owner of the airline
 * Daniella Pineda as Bonnie Lane, the flight purser
 * Lilly Krug as Brie Taylor, a passenger who is a social media influencer
 * Kelly Gale as Katie Dhar, a Swedish passenger, and Brie's friend and companion
 * Joey Slotnick as Matt Sinclair, a businessman and one of the passengers

Production
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. In October 2019, it was reported that Gerard Butler had joined the cast and would also produce alongside Alan Siegel.

In November 2019, Lionsgate Films acquired distribution rights to the film, 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, and Solstice Studios acquired the rights to the film. 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."

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

Release
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.

The film was released to VOD on February 3, 2023. It was later released on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K UHD on March 28, 2023.

Box office
Plane grossed $32.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $42.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $74.5 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $35 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.

In the United States and Canada, Plane was released alongside House Party and the wide expansion of A Man Called Otto, and was projected to gross $7–10 million from 3,023 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $3 million on its first day, including $435,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $10.2 million ($11.8 million over the four-day MLK weekend), finishing in fifth. The film made $5.3 million and $3.8 million in its second and third weekends, respectively.

Critical response
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 83% positive score, with 63% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Reaction in the Philippines
Filipino actor and senator Robin Padilla condemned the film's portrayal of the Philippines, pointing out how the film depicted Jolo as being run by separatists and militia, and the Philippine Army as "cowards". In real life, the Jihadist group Abu Sayyaf established their base of operations in Jolo but were not able to push out the Philippine Government's authority in the island. Their presence has also declined significantly since their peak in the 2000s. Padilla's criticism was supported by fellow senator Ronald dela Rosa and Senate President Migz Zubiri, who argued the film could damage the country's tourism. Meanwhile, the Directors' Guild of the Philippines opposed the proposed ban, saying that it constitutes as censorship, and argued that the ban could set a precedent on the freedom of artistic expression of any depiction of the country. They also argued that the film was not a reliable commentary on the country's affairs, stating that Plane was just "mindless B-movie entertainment".

In response, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) of the Philippines stated that it would re-evaluate the film and launch talks with the film's producers and local distributors. On February 23 Pioneer Films, the distributor of the film, voluntarily pulled out the film from "public exhibition" in a letter to the MTRCB, saying that they intend to submit a "new version of the film for appropriate review and classification."

Sequel
In February 2023, it was announced Colter will reprise his role as Louis Gaspare for a sequel titled Ship. Richet returns as an executive producer with MadRiver Pictures, Di Bonaventura Pictures and G-BASE Productions also re-teaming. While Butler will not star, he may make a cameo appearance.