Gerard Butler made his screen debut in 1997 period drama Mrs. Brown, but it wasn’t until the success of Zack Snyder’s 300 nearly a decade later that he finally found his niche in Hollywood at the complete opposite end of the genre spectrum. The heavily stylized comic book adaptation remains the biggest live-action box office hit of his career, but over the last little while, he’s carved out a reputation as a solid and dependable presence in the realm of the mid-budget action thriller.
For the most part, when you see Butler’s name attached to a movie, you know exactly what you’re going to get. While there’ve been some notable duds along the way such as Gods of Egypt, Geostorm and Hunter Killer, the 51 year-old can typically be relied on to deliver a gruffly charismatic performance in solidly enjoyable actioners that tend to do decent business at the box office.
His role as Mike Banning in the Has Fallen series gave him a franchise of his own, and fourth installment Night Has Fallen is in development as we speak with Angel director Ric Roman Waugh returning behind the camera. Meanwhile, the duo’s latest collaboration is gaining strong notices from fans and critics alike.
Greenland is a $35 million disaster thriller that finds a meteor hurdling towards Earth, forcing Butler to try and get his family to safety before the cataclysmic event happens. The movie hit VOD yesterday, and as you can see from the reactions below, people are getting a real kick out of it.
Finally got to see my new Gerard Butler Birthday movie, much delayed from October.
This year is was Greenland.
It gets 3.5 out of 5 Butlers. That's a full Butler lower than Hunter/Killer, but 0.75 Butlers more than Geostorm.
🙂— Owen K.C. Stephens has a Patreon! (@Owen_Stephens) December 19, 2020
GREENLAND was NOT the film I was expecting. I thought it was going to be 90 minutes of Gerard Butler punching a god damn comet right in the comet’s god damn face, but instead it was 2 hrs of harrowing apocalyptic action and surprisingly resonant emotional drama. Mrs Brody FTW! https://t.co/CUHAjniXZg
— Mark Graham (@unclegrambo) December 19, 2020
Just watched #greenlandmovie #greenland I enjoyed it, a bit predictable in parts but still pretty good, I'm a sucker for a disaster movie and love Gérard Butler so win win for me 😂
— Kookie (@kookiethekat) December 1, 2020
Movie called Greenland with Gerard Butler just came out today on digital things. It’s one of those Apocoypse movies but it’s super like intense ig idk how to describe it
— localgangstalker (@b_r_a_i_nn) December 19, 2020
https://twitter.com/JosephKahn/status/1340136736349855744
https://twitter.com/CB_Henson/status/1340134426513203204
Gerard Butler's #Greenland is a MUST-SEE!!!
— DCHomerSports 🇳🇮 🇺🇸 aka Sgt Commander (@dc_homer) December 19, 2020
https://twitter.com/LawrenceSonya/status/1340131855849369603
https://twitter.com/Justin77519436/status/1340126361197948928
Watching Greenland movie with Gerard Butler On Demand. It’s good! My first movie where I’m a paid extra! #GreenlandMovie
— Peggy Bailey (@peg_smackfan1) December 19, 2020
Greenland (the movie): Come for the Gerard Butler, stay for the randos getting nailed in the back by tiny asteroids.
— Chris Schneidmiller (@Schneid_Journo) December 19, 2020
GREENLAND: Um…this is genuinely the best disaster movie I've seen in years. Smartly favors drama over spectacle. Gerard Butler is great. Surprised by how moved I was by it.
— Herman Dhaliwal (@hermandhaliwal) December 18, 2020
Published: Dec 19, 2020 09:59 am