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EXCLUSIVE: Mission Impossible and Captain America star Hayley Atwell is joining Gerard Butler in hostage crisis action-thriller Empire City, which is due to begin filming this month. Michael Matthews (Love & Monsters) is newly aboard to direct the pic scripted by Brian Tucker and S. Craig Zahler. We first told you about the movie last Cannes. The story has slightly tweaked since then. In Empire City, when a hostage crisis erupts inside New York’s landmark Clybourn Building, firefighter Rhett (Butler), his squad, and his NYPD wife Dani (Atwell) must fight and navigate their way through the building to rescue the captives. The project reunites Butler and his G-BASE partner Alan Siegel with fellow Plane producer Marc Butan from MadRiver Pictures. Paul Currie will also produce. Leonine Studios co-financed development, and Leonine’s Quirin Berg and Alexander Janssen will executive-produce. The Veterans represent international and CAA Media Finance is handling domestic rights. Sales will continue at next week’s American Film Market. The film is financed under MadRiver’s multi-year equity financing and distribution deal with international distributors including DeAPlaneta (Spain), Eagle Pictures (Italy), IDC Distribution (Latin America), LEONINE Studios (Germany and Austria), The Searchers (Benelux), Shochiku (Japan), SND (France) and Unicorn Media (Eastern Europe), who will each handle distribution in their respective territories. The pact’s first film Mutiny, starring Jason Statham, will be released by Lionsgate next year. Butler recently starred in the Universal Pictures live-action adaptation of the animation franchise How to Train Your Dragon, reprising his role of Hiccup’s father Stoick. Butler is also coming off heist sequel Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, which opened to No. 1 at the domestic box office at the top of the year. Atwell recently starred opposite Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 7 and 8. She is globally known for portraying Peggy Carter across the Marvel universe in such franchises as Captain America, Avengers, Doctor Strange, and Ant-Man, as well as in her own TV series Marvel’s Agent Carter. Matthews directed the adventure film Love & Monsters for Paramount. He most recently directed the fantasy adventure series Nautilus for AMC+. Butler is represented by CAA and Alan Siegel Entertainment; Atwell by CAA, Entertainment 360, and Hamilton Hodell; Matthews by CAA and Range; Tucker by Paradigm; Zahler by UTA and Range; Butan and MadRiver are represented by CAA.
