Exclusive: Air Force One Sequel With Harrison Ford In The Works
Twenty five years after getting Gary Oldman off his plane,and Harrison Ford is ready to take on fictional terrorists one more time. Our trusted and proven sources tell us that a sequel to Wolfgang Petersen‘s 1997 classic Air Force One is on the way. They also tell us that Harrison Ford–apparently not willing to give up on the action genre completely after Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny–has signed on to reprise his role as President James Marshall.
Or should we say “former” president? After all, it’s been two and a half decades since the titular plane was taken over by Egor Korshunov (Gary Oldman) and his followers. Unless the Air Force One sequel takes place in a wild alternate history in which term limits have been abolished–or the film will take place in the late nineties and Harrison Ford will be digitally de-aged for the entire thing–the follow-up will find Ford’s character enjoying his retirement from the Oval Office.
That does bring up the interesting question of what the premise will be for the Air Force One sequel. You would think, considering Marshall’s presumptive retirement, that the follow-up will not be set on the eponymous plane from the first movie. However as a former president, Marshall would still have some political weight and could be a guest aboard Air Force One when it’s potentially hijacked again.
The Air Force One sequel could jettison the whole hijacking angle entirely and just focus on villains going after Marshall himself. Perhaps an old colleague or a grown child of Gary Oldman‘s character from the first film could be looking for revenge.
Then again, perhaps the follow-up will once again take place on Air Force One but Marshall won’t be aboard. Perhaps Harrison Ford has joined the Air Force One sequel in more of a supporting role. Maybe it will be a different president whose plane that gets hijacked, and Marshall is called in as an adviser because of his obvious experience.
That kind of premise could lead to some easy laughs. It’s not difficult to imagine Ford’s former president picking up the phone, absorbing the news, and saying something like, “Who do you guys keep letting on that plane?” Or maybe just, “What… Again?!”
While it may seem like a strange movie to make a follow-up to, if anything it’s surprising it’s taken this long for an Air Force One sequel to get the green light. As noted by Box Office Mojo, the late Wolfgang Petersen’s action thriller was a huge success; ultimately taking home $315 million worldwide. It beat out the incredibly popular Men in Black to get the #1 spot at the box office on opening weekend, and proved to be the highest grossing R-rated film of 1997.
