The year 2023 saw the release of Plane, a gritty and grimy B-movie thriller starring Gerard Butler and Mike Colter. The unexpected success of the movie saw a spin-off, entitled Ship, quickly greenlit and put into development, set to revolve around Colter‘s mysterious fugitive, Louis Gaspare, who made a bold escape into the jungle in the final moments of the film, and now, Colter has given an update on the status of the movie — although it isn’t all good news, we are sad to say.
The movie revolved around Butler‘s character, a commercial pilot who was forced to make an emergency landing on a war-torn island in the Philippines after his aircraft was struck by lightning — hate it when that happens. But what started as a survival mission quickly turned into a war against the local, very hostile militia, who took his passengers hostage.
Desperate for help, his only hope is Colter‘s Gaspare, a prisoner being extradited for an alleged murder. The film ends with Gaspare slipping away into the jungle, leaving plenty of room for his story to continue in a sequel or spin-off. The original plan for Ship was to explore Gaspare’s journey after escaping into the jungle and, no doubt, exploring where he came from and how he ended up on the plane in the first place.
The Progress of ‘Ship’ Hits Stormy Waters
However, while Ship seemed to be on course, Colter has actually admitted that the project has hit a delay. Speaking on a panel hosted by Collider’s Maggie Lovitt at Indiana Comic Con, Colter explained that the Hollywood strikes in 2023 and 2024 put the film’s development on pause — and it’s now up to Butler and his production company, G-BASE, to decide its fate. He told fans:
“The status on that is that it was a thing that happened during the strike. They were supposed to be following through on it [then the strike happened]. There’s things going on. Obviously, Gerard and his company that produce that, they own the rights to it. So that’s a question for them moving it forward, because I got things going on. I’m sure he’s got things going on too, he’s shooting stuff. But I’d love to do the sequel, but it’s kind of in their ball park right now. It’s another thing to pray for.”
With Plane performing well at the box office and gaining a cult following for its gritty, no-nonsense action, there’s still plenty of potential for a spin-off — if G-BASE and Lionsgate choose to move forward.
via Collider