So which White House-set thriller do you want to see? Roland Emmerich's "White House Down" or the Gerard Butler starring "White House Taken" (that's right, they changed it from "Olympus Has Fallen")? Well, with both movies racing into production it looks like this year's Snow White showdown is next year's Oval Office battle.
Anyway, while it still has yet to lock down the cast, Sony is getting into the ring stamping Emmerich's "White House Down" with a November 1, 2013 release date, pitting it against Summit's franchise hopeful "Ender's Game." So why is Sony all hot and bothered to get this going? Well, for one, they paid a staggering $3 million for the script by James Vanderbilt ("Zodiac," "The Amazing Spider-Man") that is said to be a cross between "Die Hard" and "Air Force One" (boner jams!) about a paramilitary takeover of the White House (probably by terrorists is our guess).
Now, it should be noted this was the date previously held by Emmerich's sci-fi "Singularity" which was put on hold to work out script issues. And so considering not only the price, but also how much of a no-brainer it is, "White House Down" will come first, the studio assuring fans that "Singularity" is still in the pipeline. While Sony has a date, Millenium Entertainment's movie doesn't have distribution though they hope to leave Cannes with some territories sold and a deal locked up.
Anyway, this pissing match should be interesting to watch particularly now that the two movies have similar titles. Get your lawyers ready…. [THR]