Was Gerard Butler’s ‘Plane’ Based on a Real Crash?

Gerard Butler is no stranger to playing a heroic presence on the big screen, with the Scottish leading man having notably saved the day in countless movies throughout his dazzling career and doing everything from protecting the President of the United States, fighting for survival against a catastrophic comet, and fearlessly leading a fierce army of Spartans into battle despite being woefully outnumbered.

In 2023, Butler took his courageous efforts to the sky when he headlined the action thriller Plane, which follows a commercial pilot who sets out to rescue his passengers from rebels after they are forced to land in hostile territory and are held hostage. Both a critical and commercial success, Plane’s unique premise instantly hooked moviegoers and left them wondering whether it was based on a real crash; let’s see if the thriller is fact or fiction.

Plane

Release Date

January 13, 2023

Runtime

107 minutes

Director

Jean-François Richet

Writers

J.P. Davis, Charles Cumming

Producers

Gerard Butler, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Marc Butan, Mark Vahradian, Alan Siegel

Is the Rip-Roaring ‘Plane’ Based on a True Story?

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The pulse-pounding action thriller Plane stars Gerard Butler as commercial pilot Brodie Torrance, an ex-RAF pilot from Scotland who, while manning a flight from Singapore to Honolulu, is forced to make an emergency landing in the Philippines on the war-torn island of Jolo after a deadly lightning strike. When the passengers and crew are kidnapped and taken hostage by a violent group of rebels in exchange for ransom money, Brodie must team up with former GCP French Foreign Legioner and murder suspect Louis Gaspare (Luke Cage alum Mike Colter) to rescue the civilians.

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Directed by Jean-François Richet (One Wild Moment), Plane’s premise feels all too real, prompting many viewers to question if the storyline was based on a true story. Fear not weary travelers, as the thriller is a complete work of fiction that was written by screenwriter J.P. Davis and author Charles Cumming. Plane is actually the exciting product of an original pitch by Cumming, who is famous for penning popular spy novels like The Trinity Six and the Alec Milius series.

The Intriguing Origins of Butler’s ‘Plane’

Lionsgate 

Described as “Captain Phillips meets Flight Plan,” the high-stakes action thriller does include some superficial ties to real-life missing planes cases and global conflicts, with Cumming getting the idea for Plane while traveling to Egypt for a family vacation, initially envisioning Syria as the setting. In an interview with the Hollywood Insider in 2023, the New York Times bestselling novelist explained his inspiration for the screenplay and said, “It was the height of ISIS’s campaign in Syria and Iraq,” before further detailing:

“I thought, ‘What would happen if our plane had been diverted by bad weather, and it had come down and crash-landed in Syria, and was set upon by terrorists?’ I thought it was a great idea for a movie, so I came to LA. I pitched it, and I sold it, and then [the story] was moved to the Philippines. But that was the kernel of the original idea.”

Director Jean-François Richet also went to painstaking lengths to ensure that the movie was authentic, with the filmmaker insisting on hiring military personnel who could act while enlisting the expertise of former Navy SEALs Pete Scobell and Remi Adeleke to serve as stunt performers and coordinators for the cast members. This helped the action scenes feel far more intense and unnerving, and firmly put audiences on the edge of their seats as Brodie and Louis took out one dangerous adversary after another.

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Though Plane may not be based on a true story, all the effort and detail that was put forth by the decorated cast and crew helped the thriller become a knockout at the box office, as it grossed over $74 million and earned positive reviews from critics. If you love watching Gerard Butler kick butt and take names on screen or are a huge fan of rousing action sequences, then Plane is the perfect film to watch and is a great way to spend 107 minutes. In their glowing review, The Guardian expertly summed up Plane and its appeal:

“It may be big, brawling and somewhat inelegant in approach, but this Gerard Butler vehicle is an aviation fuel-powered good time.”

Stream Plane on Netflix.

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