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Movies about invasions of civilization have existed since the earliest days of filmmaking. And they’ve often thrown us right into chaos, with cities burning, skies filled with planes, or alien ships invading our planet, forcing ordinary people to fight for survival. Yep, for decades, Hollywood has given us wild stories of America under attack.

Whether it’s teenagers standing up to enemy soldiers in Red Dawn or humanity uniting against aliens in Independence Day, these films aren’t just about action and destruction. They’ve often been about courage, teamwork, and refusing to give up when everything seems lost. Some became cult classics, others massive box-office hits, but all of them left a mark.

So, here’s every cult classic US invasion movie, ranked from worst to best.

7. Invasion U.S.A. (1985)

Don’t come for us just because we’ve ranked Invasion U.S.A. lowest on our list.

A fantasy flop starring Gerard Butler has found new life on streaming. Butler is a Scottish actor who had his breakout role in 2007's 300, in which he played King Leonidas. Since then, he has appeared in a number of notable movies, including the animated How to Train Your Dragon trilogy and the rom-coms P.S. I Love You and The Ugly Truth.

However, Gerard Butler action movies make up the biggest part of his filmography. These include major hits such as the Olympus Has Fallen movies, in which he plays intrepid Secret Service agent Mike Banning, the disaster movie Geostorm, and more recent outings such as Plane, Greenland, and Den of Thieves: Pantera.

Gods Of Egypt Has Secured A Place On A Major Streaming Chart

Gerard Butler's 2016 fantasy-action movie Gods of Egypt is now doing well on a major Netflix chart. The movie, which takes place in the world of Egyptian mythology,...

How to Train Your Dragon has become Gerard Butler’s highest-earning movie ever. Known for The Phantom of the Opera and various action films, including the Has Fallen franchise, Butler has been part of many commercial hits. His latest fantasy epic is a remake of 2010's animated How to Train Your Dragon, in which he voiced Stoick the Vast.

Directed by Dean DeBlois, How to Train Your Dragon portrays an unlikely companionship between Hiccup and the Night Fury dragon Toothless. Upon release, the movie garnered praise from audiences and was an instant box office success. Along with Butler, who reprises his role, the cast includes Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Julian Dennison, and Peter Serafinowicz.

According to The Numbers, Butler has a new highest-grossing movie in How to Train Your Dragon. The film has now earned over $623.5 million globally, surpassing all his previous blockbusters. Among those is the animated How to Train Your Dragon 2,...

Gerard Butler will always be known for his blockbuster roles in 300 and Olympus Has Fallen, but just a few years ago, he teamed up with a Clayface star for an under-the-radar conspiracy thriller that just got a major streaming update. Butler stars opposite Tom Rhys Harries and Farhad Bagheri in Kandahar, the 2023 action movie following a CIA operative and his translator who flee from special forces in Afghanistan after they uncover a secret covert mission. Kandahar has previously only been streaming for free on Pluto TV and Tubi, but now the film is available to watch on Netflix as of August 8. The film earned a rotten 45% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but a strong 82% on the audience-driven Popcornmeter. It turned in less than $10 million at the box office, but the budget is unknown.

Mitchell Lafortune wrote the script for Kandahar, and Ric Roman Waugh boarded the film as director.

Almost exactly two months after it hit theaters everywhere, How to Train Your Dragon has officially become Gerard Butler’s highest-grossing movie. At the time of writing, the live-action adaptation has grossed $261 million domestically and $359 million from international markets to give it a cumulative total of $620 million. This is enough to push it past How to Train Your Dragon 2, the 2014 animated film that finished its box office run with $614 million globally. This comes while fans are waiting on pins and needles for How to Train Your Dragon to make its streaming debut — as a product of Universal Pictures, the film will arrive on Peacock when it is ready to begin streaming. For now, it's still playing in some theaters, and it’s available to rent or purchase on Prime Video.

The How to Train Your Dragon franchise occupies the top four of Gerard Butler’s highest-grossing movies, and coming...

The trailer for Traumatika warns that it’s not a movie you see — it’s a movie you survive.

The supernatural horror film possesses theaters on September 12 from Saban Films.

A young boy’s night terrors become reality when his mother begins showing signs of demonic possession. What he’s about to experience will haunt him for the rest of his life and claim countless lives across generations.

Pierre Tsigaridis directs from a script co-wrote with Maxime Rançon. The pair previously collaborated on Two Witches.

Rebekah Kennedy (Two Witches), Emily Goss (The House on Pine Street), Ranen Navat, Aj Bowen (You’re Next), Sean O’Bryan, Susan Gayle Watts (Olympus Has Fallen), and Sean Whalen (The People Under the Stairs) star.

“It’s hard to prepare yourself for the highly disturbing film that Pierre and Maxime have created. They are truly mad genius storytellers,” said Saban co-presidents Jonathan Saba and Shanan Becker.

Lionsgate has announced the release date for Greenland 2: Migration. The post-apocalyptic survival sequel starring Gerard Butler will arrive on January 9, 2026.

The logline reads: “In the aftermath of a comet strike that decimated most of the earth, Greenland 2: Migration follows the Garrity family as they’re forced to leave the safety of their bunker in Greenland to traverse a shattered world in search of a new home.” In addition to Butler, the sequel also stars Morena Baccarin, Roman Griffin Davis, Amber Rose Revah, Sophie Thompson, Trond Fausa Aurvåg, and William Abadie. Ric Roman Waugh returns to direct from a script by Mitchell Lafortune and Chris Sparling.

Related Greenland: Migration receives official rating from the MPA

Despite being released at the height of the pandemic, the first film was quite successful, grossing $52.3 million on a budget of just $35 million. The film performed even stronger upon its release on PVOD and...

2025 has been a remarkable year for horror, from original titles like Sinners to legacy sequels like 28 Years Later and, most recently, the body horror Together. If you ask Saban Films, however, the most terrifying feature has yet to make its entrance. Premiering in theaters on September 12, Traumatika promises a chilling new spin on possession horror that goes to dark and deeply disturbing places, creating trauma for its characters that spans generations and maintains a curse that claims countless lives over time. As part of Collider's Exclusive Preview event for fall movies, we can exclusively share a new image from the film that shows a young boy locked in terror as he stares into the shadows. His life will be forever changed by the horror he'll witness when a malevolent entity worms its way into his family.

Traumatika follows Mikey, played by Ranen Navat, who looks to add to...

Gerard Butler has had a varied career so far, with him playing everything from action leads to rom-com love interests to a singing Phantom of the Opera for Joel Schumacher. But, it has to be said that his most consistently entertaining output falls squarely into the action genre, and as far as Gerard Butler movies go, the action films will always be our favorites… so don’t expect to see The Ugly Truth on this list, but the Jennifer Aniston adventure The Bounty Hunter might scrape by. Or maybe not. Let’s see how it goes:

300 (2006)

Perhaps The film that put Gerard Butler on the map for most people, particularly the action and comic book crowds. Butler is in peak physical form here, showing off his bod as the ultimate Spartan warrior and proving that he is indeed quite the leading man. His performance here is commanding, a bit in...

If you are looking for proof as to why Gerard Butler is the undisputed king of modern trash cinema, look no further than the "Has Fallen" franchise. The films -- "Olympus Has Fallen, "London Has Fallen," and "Angel Has Fallen" -- are modern-day throwbacks to the politically incorrect action fare of yesteryear, with Butler's Secret Service agent, Mike Banning, blasting and stabbing his way through terrorists while protecting the President of the United States. A fourth film, "Night Has Fallen," is currently in the works, but the franchise has also expanded into the world of small-screen entertainment with a spin-off set in France.

"Paris Has Fallen" doesn't feature Butler's one-man army, but it's still an entertaining, violent thriller that will appeal to fans of the film saga. The story follows Vincent Taleb (Tewfik Jallab), a protection officer to France's Defense Minister, and Zara Taylor (Ritu Arya), an MI6 agent,...

Taylor Sheridan didn’t just write shows; he created worlds where overlooked actors get a shot at greatness. Cole Hauser and Jefferson White are just two names who went from solid to stand out, thanks to the raw, character-heavy drama Sheridan builds so well.

Known for gritty storytelling and sharp dialogue, Sheridan’s work in Yellowstone, 1883, Mayor of Kingstown, and more has reshaped the modern western. His scripts demand presence, intensity, and depth, and the actors deliver. These ten stars arrived, becoming prestige TV icons in a universe that’s all fire, tension, and career-defining moments.

Here are 10 actors who went from flying under the radar to leading the charge, thanks to Sheridan’s game-changing universe.

1. Cole Hauser – From Background Tough Guy to Ranch-Running Legend

Before Yellowstone, Cole Hauser was the tough guy in the background, the bruiser, the soldier, the second fiddle. Then Taylor Sheridan handed him Rip Wheeler,...

Chris Pratt opened the year with a stinker in The Electric State, but nearly 10 years ago, he starred in a forgotten Western that’s sniped a spot on streaming charts. Pratt features alongside Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke in The Magnificent Seven, a Western following seven gunmen of differing backgrounds who come together to protect a town from the private army of of destructive industrialist. The Magnificent Seven, which also stars Vincent D’Onofrio and Lee Byung-Hun (Squid Game), is streaming on Prime Video and Amazon MGM in America, where it’s one of the most popular movies on the platform, sitting at #7 at the time of writing. The film earned moderate scores of 64% from critics and 71% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and it also grossed $162 million at the box office against a $90 million budget.

The Magnificent Seven is a remake of both Seven Samurai, the 1954 Akira Kurosawa film, and the...

Mark Wahlberg's Flight Risk recently began streaming on Starz, but another of his iconic action flicks has returned to streaming glory alongside the recent Mel Gibson-directed thriller. Wahlberg stars alongside Michael Peña in Shooter, a 2007 conspiracy thriller that follows an expert marksman living in exile who is called back into his old life after being double-crossed. Shooter is currently streaming on Paramount+, the service it has called home for several years now, and it’s clawed back into the top 10 nearly 20 years later, sitting at #10 at the time of writing. The film grossed only $95 million at the box office, against a $61 million budget, failing to reach its break-even point. It also earned divisive scores of 47% from critics but 80% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.

During a 2013 interview with Hollywood.com, Wahlberg spoke about the political overtones in Shooter, even expressing hope that it will "inspire people to want to go...

Although their paths may not have crossed in the MCU (not yet anyway), Deadpool & Wolverine’s Channing Tatum and Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Jamie Foxx once put it all on the line in a gritty action thriller. Pressing the gas pedal down to the floor and steering subscribers directly into the summer blockbuster season, Netflix is officially the new home of White House Down. Though perhaps overshadowed by other similar blockbusters of the time, like the Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman-led Olympus Has Fallen, the 2013 title has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years thanks to its appearance on streaming platforms, bringing the high-octane story to an entirely new set of eyes.

Trying to win favor in the eyes of his daughter, single father, John Cale (Tatum) scores tickets to a one-of-a-kind tour of the White House. An Afghanistan veteran, John now works as a Capitol policeman but...

It's safe to say that Gerard Butler has easily established himself as one of the great action stars of this generation. From Olympus Has Fallen and its many sequels, to Plane and the Den of Thieves franchise, Butler is everywhere these days, much to the chagrin of critics who haven't been very kind to the actor's efforts. Case in point: Butler's 2023 action thriller Kandahar, which, despite being called things like "mindless" and "predictable," continues to be a streaming hit on Tubi.

Debuting on the free streaming service last month, Kandahar quickly became a smash, storming its way to the top of the charts. Now, a month later, it remains in the Top 10, sitting comfortably at #8 at the time of this writing, sandwiched between Jean-Claude Van Damme's 1994 sci-fi thriller Timecop, and Noah Wyle's 2004 action adventure romp The Librarian: Quest for the Spear.

Hitting theaters on May 26, 2023, Kandahar was inspired...

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Heads of State is an action comedy film directed by Ilya Naishuller from a screenplay co-written by Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, and Harrison Query. The Prime Video film follows the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who don’t particularly like each other, but when they get caught up in a global conspiracy and are attacked by terrorists, they must work together to survive. Heads of State stars John Cena, Idris Elba, Priyanka Chopra, Jack Quaid, Carla Gugino, Stephen Root, and Paddy Considine. So, if you loved the hilarious comedy, explosive action, and entertaining characters in Heads of State, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Big Game (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Entertainment One

Big Game is an action-adventure film directed by Jalmari Helander, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Petri Jokiranta.

Gerard Butler may have opened the year with a disappointing box office performance in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, but one of the star’s biggest action hits of his career has returned to streaming charts more than 10 years later. Butler stars alongside Morgan Freeman and Aaron Eckhart in Olympus Has Fallen, the 2013 action thriller following a Secret Service agent trapped in the White House during a terrorist attack who works to rescue the President from his kidnappers. Olympus Has Fallen is streaming on HBO Max globally, and the film has recently surged on streaming charts in several countries, such as Australia and the Dominican Republic. It grossed $170 million against a $70 million budget and earned scores of 50% from critics and 66% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.

Olympus Has Fallen is, unfortunately, not streaming anywhere in the United States, but the film is a cheap rent ($3.99) or purchase ($14.99) on Prime Video for the perfect movie night.

Fresh off a Golden Globe nomination for Presumed Innocent, Jake Gyllenhaal has set his sights on his next project. The acclaimed actor is set to lead an upcoming thriller about a heart surgeon performing an operation in D.C., who is unknowingly led into a criminal plot only he can stop in order to save the nation. For those who enjoyed Carry-On and Olympus Has Fallen, this film might just be right up their alley.

Deadline reports that Jake Gyllenhaal is in talks to lead and produce Code Black, an upcoming political thriller based on a short story by Harrison Query (Heads of State), who is also writing the screenplay. Amazon MGM Studios has acquired the upcoming project, which currently does not have a theatrical or streaming release date. A director is not attached to the project yet, but it is said that Amazon paid a pretty penny for the film rights,...

Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx teamed up for an underrated action film in 2013, and it is now streaming for free for everyone to see. Disaster film master Roland Emmerich made a smaller-scale action movie called White House Down. While it underperformed at the box office when released, it is available for everyone to rediscover 12 years later.

White House Downstars Channing Tatum as John Cale, a Capitol police officer who takes his daughter on a White House tour when mercenaries attack the building. Jamie Foxx stars as James Sawyer, the President of the United States, and the man the mercenaries are targeting. The film also has an impressive cast, with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, and James Woods rounding out the lineup.

Now, fans can catch the movie for free on streaming. In June 2025, White House Down was added to Tubi. For those who don't know, Tubi is...

Gerard Butler has delivered countless action thrillers over the years, like 300, Olympus Has Fallen, Den of Thieves, and more, but one of his more recent hits has become an instant streaming phenomenon. Butler stars alongside Luke Cage veteran Mike Colter in Plane, the 2023 action thriller that follows Brodie Torrance (Butler), a pilot who finds himself in a war zone with Louis Gaspare (Colter) after his plane goes down during a storm. Plane just arrived on Netflix this week, and the film has wasted no time finding success, currently sitting in the third spot on the streamer’s top movies chart with room to climb even more. Plane nearly tripled its modest $25 million budget with $74 million at the box office, and it even earned scores of 79% from critics and 94% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes — “certified fresh” and “verified hot.”

During a 2023 interview with WGN News, Butler described Plane as “a...

While Channing Tatum is best loved for the Magic Mike franchise, Step Up, and his comedy roles, he also has a slew of action roles. Among them is his collaboration with Roland Emmerich, White House Down, which sees him as a US Capitol Police officer, who is in a life and death situation. The exciting feature is now available to stream for free.

Tubi has added the movie starring Tatum to its roster this month. The movie follows Tatum as a divorced police officer, who has been denied his dream job of protecting the US President as a member of the Secret Service. Not wanting to disappoint his daughter, Cale takes her on a tour of the White House. While the two are there, a heavily armed paramilitary group attacks and seizes control. Now it's up to Cale to save his daughter and the president.

Despite a thrilling premise and compelling action,...

Gerard Butler has been a part of tons of projects over the years, both good and bad, critically and generally acclaimed and panned. Of course, some pieces have been more than just approved by audiences worldwide despite being brutally disapproved by critics. Like his 93%-rated fan-favorite flick from 2019, Angel Has Fallen.

A political action thriller, the movie was deemed rotten by the critics, but the general audience ratings said otherwise, as it seems to have truly captivated them with its action-thriller elements. And now, years after its release more than half a decade ago, the movie is finally out for streaming, but not on the streaming giant Netflix, as one might expect.

Gerard Butler’s Angel Has Fallen is out for streaming now Gerard Butler as United States Secret Service agent Mike Banning in a still from the movie. | Credits: Angel Has Fallen / Lionsgate Films.

Released half a decade ago,...

Yellowstone‘s Rip Wheeler is making some big bucks. The stocky ranch hand-turned-family member, played by Cole Hauser, quickly rose to fame in Taylor Sheridan’s Western show. After nearly three decades of pursuing an acting career, Hauser’s odds began getting bigger and better with this lead role. And he is currently looking to become one of the highest-paid TV actors.

While Hauser’s recent money and fame may come from Yellowstone, it should be noted that Hauser comes from a family of show business. And he is best friends with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. So, how much did Hauser earn from his last 30 years in the industry?

What is Cole Hauser’s net worth in 2025? Cole Hauser as Rip Wheeler in a still from Yellowstone | Credits: Paramount Network

Cole Hauser turned to acting after getting the lead role in the school play, Dark of the Moon. His...

From Olympus Has Fallen to The Dark Knight and, more recently, the espionage thriller Classified, Aaron Eckhart boasts an impressive filmography packed with critically acclaimed titles. However, as is the case with any major star, every high has a low, and every success has a failure. However, one of Eckhart's bigger failures seems to finally be finding a silver lining of success over ten years on, namely 2014's I, Frankenstein.

Currently, the movie that saw Eckhart take on the strange lead role of Adam Frankenstein, a superhuman creature created by one of literature's most famous scientists, sits comfortably inside the Top 10 most-watched titles on streamer Tubi as of May 29, 2025. Placed at #5, I, Frankenstein is receiving higher viewership numbers than several other eye-catching titles, including the poorly agedAce Ventura: Pet Detective, Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family, Glen Powell’s biographical wartime feature, Devotion, and the 2022 biopic Till.

This success...

Millennium Media, the force behind action mainstays such as The Expendables and The Fallen franchise, is charting new territory with the Rambo saga.

Currently making waves at the Cannes Film Festival, the studio is shopping a prequel that will delve into the origins of John Rambo, an origin story that notably will not star Sylvester Stallone in the lead role (though a cameo isn't entirely off the table).

Millennium is financing the project and actively seeking distribution partners at the festival, with production anticipated to begin in October.

This trip into the past follows Millennium's previous franchise installments, Rambo (2008) and Rambo: Last Blood (2019). According to Deadline Hollywood, the film will explore Rambo's intense combat experiences in the Vietnam War, with directorial duties entrusted to Jalmari Helander, the celebrated director of the recent action hit Sisu.

The screenplay is penned by the writing team of Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, known...

Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander (Sisu) has reportedly been tapped to make a Rambo prequel. Sylvester Stallone isn’t thought to be involved.

Millennium Media, the production company behind several modern action franchises such as The Expendables, The Hitman’s Bodyguard and Olympus Has Fallen, is reportedly looking to acquire backing for a Rambo prequel film. If it happens, it will chart the origins of the former Vietnam soldier made famous in the 1980s by Sylvester Stallone.

According to Deadline, Stallone won’t be involved, but things appear to be moving quickly, as an October shoot has already been set for Thailand. The country could well be doubling for Vietnam, with the tale likely to explore (in part at least), the traumatising effects of that war on Rambo’s psyche, adding context to the character’s first screen appearance in 1982’s acclaimed First Blood.

While you’d be forgiven for thinking this all feels a little cynical,...

Exclusive: Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) is starring in under-the-radar action-thriler Seven Snipers alongside Radha Mitchell (Olympus Has Fallen), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) and Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four).

Currently in pos-tproduction having shot in the Australian outback in December 2024, the feature focuses on a retired sniper hiding out on an Australian ranch who gets her elite team of killers back together to protect her daughter when a warlord, seeking revenge, hunts her down. Above is a first look.

Capture, which will continue sales at this week’s Cannes market, has inked deals for Germany (Splendid), Spain (AContraCorriente), Eastern Europe, Cis and the Baltics (Daro), Benelux (Spi International), the Middle East (Phoenicia), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), South Korea (Noori), India (Star Entertainment), the Philippines (Pioneer), Turkey (Moviebox) and Airlines (Ricochet).

The film is directed by Sandra Sciberras (The Dustwalker) from a screenplay by Andrew O’Keefe, and produced by Tristan Barr (Head Count) and Sciberras.

Exclusive: The Dark Knight and Olympus Has Fallen star Aaron Eckhart is set for plane thriller Midair from Jeepers Creepers: Reborn and Iron Sky director Timo Vuorensola.

The project will mark the director’s second airplane thriller after 97 Minutes, which was released in 2023. Written by George Mahaffey (Chief of Station), the movie is scheduled to start production in September.

The synopsis reads: “When a seasoned ex-CIA cargo pilot embarks on a crucial flight to celebrate his son’s birthday, he is thrust into a harrowing battle for survival as a rogue agent takes control of the plane. Facing deadly threats and a ticking clock, he must navigate treacherous skies while protecting his passengers and uncover a sinister plot. As the stakes escalate he discovers that loyalty and courage will be tested in ways he never imagined, all while fighting to reclaim control of his aircraft and safeguard his family’s future.

Every generation gets its own Die Hard. So potent is the power of John McClane that the animated comedy Rick And Morty even devoted an entire episode to Rick imploring his teenage granddaughter to “do a Die Hard” in a space station. We’ve had Die Hard on a bus (Speed), Die Hard on a boat (Speed 2: Cruise Control), Die Hard on a different boat (Under Siege), Die Hard on a train (Under Siege 2), Die Hard in a couple of White Houses, Die Hard in various planes etc etc etc. Yet until the arrival of Cleaner, a new ostensibly original homegrown British action movie, we’d never really had a Die Hard in London.

On paper, there is much cause for optimism for Cleaner. The film is directed by veteran filmmaker Martin Campbell, responsible for two of the best James Bond films ever made (GoldenEye and Casino Royale...

Mark Wahlberg kicked off this year with the aviation thriller, Flight Risk, which was directed by Mel Gibson, but nearly 20 years ago, he starred as a one-man army in an action thriller dominating streaming charts. Wahlberg features alongside Michael Peña and Kate Mara in Shooter, the 2007 political thriller following an expert marksman living in exile who is forced back into his old life after being double-crossed and blamed for an assassination attempt on the President’s life. Shooter has been streaming on Paramount+ for years, but the film has recently resurfaced in the streamer’s top 10, sitting at #5 at the time of writing. Shooter earned scores of 47% from critics and 80% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and the film grossed $95 million at the box office against a $61 million budget.

Shooter is based on the novel Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter, and Jonathan Lemkin adapted the book with Antoine Fuqua directing.

He's spent the last six years putting the fear in fans of superhero shows, courtesy of a milk addiction and a dead-eyed stare that comes with laser vision, but now, "The Boys" award-nominated villain, Antony Starr, has gone bad in a feature-length film over at Prime Video. And according to FlixPatrol, this movie has quickly shot to the streaming service's number one spot.

Joining the niche genre of presidential protagonists that get up to their elbows in an action-packed story is Viola Davis in "G20." Directed by Patricia Riggen, the film sees Davis as US President and Army veteran Danielle Sutton, who gets caught up in a hostage situation during the G20 summit. Heading up the operation of holding world leaders at gunpoint is Rutledge (Starr), a former Australian Special Forces operative who is willing to send the free world into chaos if his demands aren't met.

Tapping into the...

One of this week’s new releases stars Steve Coogan and a penguin, so here’s a film quiz about other actors and their animal co-stars.

They say you should never work with children or animals, but that’s not stopped movie stars teaming up with animal co-stars. There are usually mixed results – even the can’t-lose buddy pairing of “Tom Hanks and a French mastiff” definitely didn’t end happily for both of them (spoilery details here). Now in UK cinemas, Peter Cattaneo’s new movie The Penguin Lessons teams up Partridge and penguin, so we’ve got some quiz questions about other live-action animal star vehicles as part of your usual movie-related trivia safari.

Once you’ve completed this week’s film quiz, you’ll find a link to a separate post with the correct answers at the bottom of this post. As always, this is just for fun,...

Grey’s Anatomy is adding a Yellowstone vet to the mix for an arc that has big implications for Amelia! We have the details of what to expect.

Grey’s Anatomy is always known for its great history of having some big guest stars added on. Some are around for just an episode or two while others get longer story arcs. A few small-time guest stars can even become regulars, like Sara Ramirez’s Callie.

Now, TVLine has announced another notable guest star turn for the last episodes of season 21. Piper Perabo, last seen on the hit Yellowstone, will arrive in episode 16, which airs on Thursday, May 1. She’ll be around for the next two episodes, including the season finale on Thursday, May 15.

Who will Piper Perabo play in Grey's Anatomy?

Per the article, Perabo will play Jenna Gatlin, a mother whose nine-year-old daughter, Dylan, is at Grey Sloan for a high-risk brain surgery,...

In a major German film and TV industry shakeup, Vuelta Germany CEO Al Munteanu – who recently completed the merger of the pan-European studio’s German units – is stepping down to focus on production. Munteanu will hand the reins to Dirk Schweitzer, who is stepping down as head of German studio Mmc.

Schweitzer, who prior to joining Mmc held senior positions at several German media groups — including being CEO of German producer/distributor Splendid Media and managing director of Tele-München Group — will lead Velta Germany in an interim role, according to a statement.

Munteanu has been instrumental to the integration process of Vuelta’s SquareOne Entertainment, Telepool and EuroVideo units. As part of this merger, Telepoo’s international sales arm, Global Screen, has now been folded into Vuelta’s French division Playtime. The Vuelta Germany team also closed a new booking and billing deal with Constantin Film for its extensive slate of theatrical films.

In a major executive shuffle in the German film industry, Dirk Schweitzer, currently CEO of film studio Mmc, is taking over as interim head of Vuelta Germany, the German division of Jerome Levy’s Vuelta Group, replacing outgoing CEO Al Munteanu.

Munteanu, who took over at Vuelta Germany last year after Vuelta merged its German distributor and rights company Telepool with Munteanu’s SquareOne, will take over SquareOne’s production division, SquareOne Productions, which he is rebranding as BriskPace Studios. Munteanu remains a shareholder of Vuelta and will serve as a senior advisor.

At Vuelta, Munteanu oversaw the merger and integration of the group’s German operations, including SquareOne, Telepool, and EuroVideo and the restructuring of Telepool´s international sales arm, Global Screen, under Vuelta’s French division Playtime. The Vuelta Germany team also struck a new booking and billing deal with German distributor Constantin Film for its slate of theatrical films.

Viola Davis stars as a tough, actually decent US President foiling a terrorist plot in the forthcoming Prime Video thriller, G20. Here’s the trailer.

A new trailer has emerged for G20, the upcoming film from Amazon Studios. Here’s a quick synopsis that also folds Davis’ turn as an all-action US president into a much wider-legacy of films in the same gung-ho tradition:

US President Danielle Sutton must defend her family, fellow leaders and the world when the G20 summit in Cape Town, South Africa is taken over by terrorists.

‘President vs terrorists’ is by now its own action subgenre. From Harrison Ford’s stoic turn in Wolfgang Petersen’s Air Force One to Gerard Butler protecting Aaron Eckhart in Antoine Fuqua’s ‘Die Hard in the White House’ action film Olympus Has Fallen and, from the same year, Channing Tatum protecting Jamie Foxx in Roland Emmerich’s White House Down.

In an unpredictable twist, Gerard Butler’s Geostorm, the disaster movie that crashed and burned in 2017, had unexpectedly returned to the spotlight. The 2017 bomb had skyrocketed to the top of Netflix’s streaming charts in 2025. But what is the reason behind its failure? Why are viewers now flocking to it?

We don’t know the answer, but some behind-the-scenes details are leaving some hints. Dean Devlin, who directed Geostorm, has previously revealed surprising details about the troubled production. Despite the movie’s lackluster performance, Devlin is open about what went wrong and his original vision.

Gerard Butler in Dean Devlin’s Geostorm | Credit: Warner Bros. Director Dean Devlin reflected on the troubled production of the Gerard Butler movie Geostorm

Directed by Dean Devlin, known for his work on Independence Day and Godzilla (1988), Geostorm starred Gerard Butler as a satellite designer tasked with preventing a global disaster caused by a malfunctioning climate-control satellite.

Following an exceedingly positive reception for its live-action How To Train Your Dragon remake at CinemaCon, Universal Pictures brought out the main cast during its afternoon presentation to officially announce a sequel: How To Train Your Dragon 2.

The sequel will hit theaters June 11, 2027 - with director/writer Dean DeBlois and young stars Mason Thames ("Hiccup") and Nice Parker ("Astrid") all set to return.

The now-confirmed follow-up will adapt the animated sequel of the same name, which was met with widespread critical acclaim upon its release in 2014, and ultimately grossed over $621.5 million globally.

Before we get to that one, the first live-action adaptation opens in theaters June 13, and critics have been absolutely buzzing ever since its worldwide premiere at CinemaCon, so hopes are extremely high for the film's prospects this Summer.

The film stars the aforementioned Mason Thames (The Black Phone; Walker; For All Mankind) and Nico Parker (The Last of Us...

Armageddon and Deep Impact, Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down, Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached. These are only three examples of two movies with broadly similar themes being released in the same year. Among the most recent instances of this happening was in 2012, when two wildly different visions of the Snow White fable — Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman — were released to roughly the same critical response in theaters. A couple of weeks ago, Disney unveiled its mega-budget live-action remake of Snow White to muted audience response and mediocre reviews. The movie also attracted a massive controversy following political comments made by its lead, Rachel Zegler. But despite the noise, Snow White has now overtaken Mirror Mirror's entire domestic run.

In just 10 days of release, Snow Whitehas generated nearly $67 million. By comparison, Mirror Mirror concluded its domestic run with $64 million back in 2012. Directed by Tarsem Singh Dhandwar,...

Both Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx have dazzling Hollywood careers spanning decades, and in 2009, the talented leading men squared off in the pulse-pounding action thriller Law Abiding Citizen, which focuses on a devoted family man-turned-vicious vigilante as he decides to take justice into his own hands and targets not only the legal system but also a prosecuting attorney after his wife and daughter are brutally murdered, and the killer manages to evade the death penalty.

Butler brilliantly goes against type and delivers a fantastic performance as a haunted man on a mission for vengeance, with the flick being the perfect follow-up to the Scotsman's latest exciting release, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. When Law Abiding Citizen made its rip-roaring premiere, fans were blown away by the on-screen showdown between Butler and Foxx, though critics were far less impressed; let's check out why the gripping thriller is worth a watch.

Butler...

Gear up, Gerard Butler fans — Netflix has a treat for you this week! Butler's latest action-packed thriller, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, is officially heading to Netflix on Thursday, March 20, 2025. The film made its theatrical release in January 2025. However, those who missed the initial release now have the chance to revel in the intense action that the film brings from the comfort of their own homes.

The long-awaited sequel to 2018's Den of Thieves, the film brings back Gerard Butler in his role of "Big Nick" O'Brien. Once again, the character is on the hunt for an elite group of criminals. However, unlike the first film, Den of Thieves 2 sees Nick and Donnie form an unlikely partnership as the action goes global. Whereas Donnie's focus was on a Federal Reserve branch in the first film, the sequel sees Donnie move his focus to the World Diamond Center, a highly secure facility in Nice,...

Though his work is wide-ranging, a huge part of Gerard Butler's career has revolved around action films. After appearing in a period piece for his debut film, he played a supporting role in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997. Since then, he has been in multiple other action movies, including Olympus Has Fallen and Kandahar. Some of his action films have fallen into the climate survival subgenre, including both Greenland and Geostorm, the former of which has a sequel, Greenland: Migration, scheduled for this year.

One of Butler's biggest action franchises as a leading star is the Den of Thieves movies. Most recently, the franchise saw the release of its second installment, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. The movie grossed $56.7 million worldwide, making it the no. 5 highest-grossing movie of the year so far. Pantera received decent reviews, which was positive enough to warrant the development of a third film.

There are several instances in film history in which two films with seemingly identical premises are released within several months of each other, sparking confusion among general audiences and comparisons from seasoned film pundits. Both Armageddonand Deep Impacttold asteroid-centric stories in 1998, competing disaster films Volcano and Dante’s Peak debuted in 1997, both Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down used the “Die Hard in the White House” premise in 2013, and families interested in animated insect comedies had to choose between Antz and A Bug’s Lifein 1998. Although Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is often considered to be one of the greatest animated films of all-time, the character herself belongs to the public domain, meaning that any studio can make their own adaptation. Mirror Mirrorand Snow White and the Huntsmanwere released just months apart in 2012, and both tried to tell the “untold story” of the “fairest maiden of them all.”...

The concept of "twin films" has recently caught the attention of movie fans on social media. Twin films are a pair of movies with shockingly similar concepts that release in the same year. This phenomenon usually happens as a result of some cultural event bringing an idea to the forefront of the Hollywood hivemind, and two different studios entering development without awareness of each other. Some famous and funny examples include 2006's The Prestige and The Illusionist, two films about 19th century magicians, 2013's White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen, two films about attacks on the White House, and 2011's Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached, two films about friendships turned hook-ups. Somehow, someway, these filmmakers settle on the same exact idea, and end up having to race to get their film released.

While slightly less notable, it's also interesting when films released decades apart somehow stumble upon similar terrain.

Gerard Butler cemented his reputation as a formidable action star by battling Spartan foes in 300 and fending off White House invaders in Olympus Has Fallen, but he also made several segues into the rom-com genre. However, while his action roles have certainly found a dedicated audience, with the likes of Den of Thieves and its recent sequel scoring reasonably well with audiences and at the box office, one of his old comedy movies, The Ugly Truth, is now an unexpected hit on Hulu.

However, the movie really lived up to its name when it was released in 2009 as far as critics were concerned, as their 14% Tomatometer annihilation of the movie delivered an ugly truth that Butler is much better when shooting bad guys and saving presidents. Directed by Robert Luketic and co-starring Katherine Heigl, the film was panned for its contrived premise and risqué back-and-forth banter, but that is only half the story.

Last year’s spin-off to one of Gerard Butler’s most beloved action thriller franchises, the Has Fallen saga, will return for more. Paris Has Fallenis a French and English-language action series which debuted on Canal+ before landing on both Prime Video and Hulu. Critically well-received, it has now been confirmed that the spin-off will return for a second season, with Paris Has Fallen Season 2 now in production and with filming now underway in the United Kingdom.

Released in the latter part of last year, Paris Has Fallen transports the action to the French capital, and follows Tewfik Jallab (Squad 36) as a protection officer who teams up with Ritu Arya’s (The Umbrella Academy) MI6 operative to stop a terrorist group led by Jacob Pearce, played by Mission: Impossible villain Sean Harris.

RelatedNetflix’s Gritty New Action Thriller Is a Streaming Hit (So Give It a Shot)

The thriller has...

Has Fallen will return for another high-stakes season on TV.

Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada today confirmed a second season of the action thriller series, which was spun out of the Has Fallen films, is in production in the UK on a second season. Season 1, Paris Has Fallen, was set in the French capital with some filming taking place in London.

Saada revealed the news in comments prepared for Canal+’s preliminary full-year 2024 results.

“Studiocanal’s first-ever global TV series Paris Has Fallen, based on the successful Has Fallen film franchise, was a smashing success in all Canal+ pay-tv territories, as well as on Amazon Prime in the UK and Hulu in the United States,” he said. “It will naturally be followed by a second season now shooting in the UK.”

No further details were given but Season 1 of the Canal+ original, which sold to the likes of Hulu and Prime Video,...

Quick Links'London Has Fallen' Pits Critics Against AudiencesThe President Even Gets in on the Action in 'London Has Fallen'

Without question, the Has Fallen movie trilogy written by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt is one Hollywood franchise that should be analyzed and studied. Starring Gerard Butler as Secret Service agent Mike Banning and Morgan Freeman (in various roles), each of the three movies barely passed their budget in North American box office totals and didn’t receive the best praise from critics. Albeit, the first and third films — 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen and 2019’s Angel Has Fallen — actually lead when it comes to the two aforementioned categories. On the other hand, 2016’s London Has Fallen, which sees Banning escort president Benjamin Asher out of the vice of Islamic terrorists, seems to have taken an even greater misstep.

The second action flick in the series not only stands out...

2013's White House Down is about to have a brand-new streaming home.

Per Peacock, the slate of films and TV shows being added to the streaming service's ever-expanding library officially includes White House Down starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. White House Down will be available for streaming on Peacock beginning March 1.

Related'Hardest Weeks of My Life': How Alan Ritchson Paid the Price fo Film Reacher Season 3's Epic Fight Scene

Alan Ritchson hypes up Reacher's most hotly anticipated fight scene, calls filming it the "three hardest weeks of my life."

Directed by Roland Emmerich from a screenplay written by James Vanderbilt, White House Down stars Tatum as John Cale, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan turned Capitol police officer. When Cale's family tour of the White House just so happens to coincide with a brazen attack against the President of the United States, James Sawyer, as portrayed by Jamie Foxx,...

Stars: Daisy Ridley, Matthew Tuck, Clive Owen, Lee Boardman, Rufus Jones, Taz Skylar, Ruth Gemmell | Written by Matthew Orton, Simon Uttley, Paul Andrew Williams | Directed by Martin Campbell

Since the original Die Hard took the world by storm in 1988, it has inspired countless sequels and knock-offs. Often built around the same basic premise, these films have become a sub-genre in their own right. From Die Hard 2: Die Harder set in an airport, to Under Siege on a naval vessel, Passenger 57 on a plane, and even Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down in the White House, the formula has been repeated in various locations, with a lone hero taking on the bad guys and saving the hostages.

Now, Cleaner, directed by Martin Campbell and written by Matthew Orton, Simon Uttley (James Hyde – The Very Thought of You), and Paul Andrew Williams, brings the formula back to where it all started,...