The tit-for-tat casting conflict continues between duelling White House action thrillers Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down. Today it's once again the turn of Millennium Films’ Olympus, with word that Melissa Leo and Rick Yune are signing on to play key roles.
Antoine Fuqua is even now gearing up to start shooting the movie, which finds Gerard Butler’s former secret service agent called back to full duty when the President (Aaron Eckhart) and his staff are held hostage in the White House by Korean terrorists.
Leo is on to play a tough-nosed secretary of defence, who doesn’t fare well when she falls into the clutches of the baddies. And those villains will be led by Yune, a North Korean posing as the aide to a visiting South Korean minister (Keong Sim). Turns out, the assistant is really a sociopathic sort with a serious dislike of the American administration. They join a cast that already includes Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser and Angela Bassett.
Leo has been keeping her roles as eclectic as ever, as she’s recently been shooting Oblivion with Tom Cruise. She’ll next be seen in Robert Zemeckis’ Flight. Yune was last seen in Ninja Assassin and has The Man With The Iron Fists set for release this year.
Olympus Has Fallen will be out in 2013.