After starring in Den of Thieves 2 and the live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie this year, another action film on the slate for Gerard Butler just got an exciting update. First reported at the Cannes Film Festival last year, Butler has been tapped to star in Empire City, a new hostage thriller from director Michael Matthews and writers Brian Tucker and S. Craig Zahler. News broke yesterday evening that the first name to join Butler in the actioner is Hayley Atwell, a Marvel star who also recently had a two-movie stint in Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible franchise.

Empire City follows firefighter Rhett (Butler), his squad, and his NYPD officer wife (Atwell) as they work together to stop a hostage crisis in New York’s landmark Clybourn Building. The duo must fight their way through the building and work together to save the captives. Production on Empire City is due to begin soon — before the end of the month — but it’s unclear at this time when it will be released. The film has already secured distribution, so it won’t have to wait for that when it wraps filming. It could potentially be released before the end of 2026 if it keeps to a tight production schedule.

Gerard Butler is best known for his star-making role in the 2006 historical action thriller, 300. Butler has since become famous as one of the most sought-after action stars in the world, leading franchises like How to Train Your Dragon, Den of Thieves, and Greenland. He consistently has movies dominating streaming platforms, and with plenty of new projects on the way, he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

When Does Gerard Butler’s Next Movie Come Out?

Gerard Butler’s next movie will be released very soon. Butler will reunite with Morena Baccarin on a sequel to their 2020 disaster movie, Greenland. Greenland 2: Migration will be released in theaters on January 9, 2026. Butler will also reprise his role as Stoick in How to Train Your Dragon 2, which has already been dated for release on June 11, 2027. It will likely begin production sometime next year. He’ll even be seen starring as Big Nick once again opposite O’Shea Jackson in Den of Thieves 3, which will begin production next year and be released in 2027. He’s also teaming up with Al Pacino and Oscar Isaac for a new crime thriller coming soon.

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates on Empire City and coverage of Gerard Butler’s future projects.

Release Date

May 23, 2025

Runtime

170 minutes

Director

Christopher McQuarrie