It would appear that, in the race to make the first White House in peril thriller of 2013, every time one of the films announces some casting news, the other has to follow suit. So with this weekend’s talk of Radha Mitchell signed to **Olympus Has Fallen, now there’s word that James Woods is in early talks for White House Down.
Roland Emmerich is in charge of this one, overseeing a story that finds Channing Tatum as a Secret Service agent tasked with saving the President when a paramilitary group takes over his residence.
Assuming he makes a deal, Woods will be playing the head of the President’s guard detail and Tatum’s boss. He’d be joining a cast that also includes Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx.
Though Olympus appears to have the jump in terms of shooting, White House Down has a James Vanderbilt script and Emmerich’s history with the White House to spur interest. Emmerich will start cranking the cameras next month. Frankly, we figure they should save costs and use the same White House set, assuming it doesn’t get completely destroyed the first time…