The next movie in the Plane franchise has been officially shelved, according to star Mike Colter. The 2023 action film starred Gerard Butler as a commercial pilot, Brodie Torrance, escorting a suspected murderer, played by Colter, when their plane crashes in the Philippines. It was confirmed in 2023 that a sequel, titled Ship, was in development, but little has been heard about the movie since.
The Direct recently sat down for an interview with the Luke Cage star at Fan Expo Vancouver, during which he confirmed to us that plans for the Plane sequel have been cancelle after, only two weeks out from the film's scheduled production start, "Gerard [Butler] decided he didn't want to go forward with it." Colter added that after Butler left, all work on the film "dissolved:"
"It just, last-minute, Gerard [Butler] decided he didn’t want to go forward with it and there wasn’t a lot of discussion about it. He just… two weeks out, he pulled out and we were sort of left trying to figure out what to do. And eventually, that dissolved."
Butler wasn't expected to star in Ship but continued to serve as a producer on the film through G-BASE, meaning he still had an overall say in the film.
Colter said that it was the script that excited him most about returning for a Plane sequel, which would've "picked up where we left off" and followed his character, Louis Gaspare, and his escape from the island:
"The script. Basically picking up where we left off, what happened to that character, and how’d he get off the island. That was where we were gonna go with it. So, I was excited about it."
The ending of Plane saw Butler and Colter's characters separated: Brodie and his co-pilot escaped the island, while Louis stayed behind to deal with the mercenaries and ended up fleeing into the jungle with a bag of ransom money. The announcement of Ship suggested that Butler would not be involved in the movie as a lead but might appear in a cameo, with the focus shifting to Colter's character instead. The movie would also have brought back the original director, Jean-François Richet.
When Plane debuted in 2023, it received affirming reviews, with 78% of critics reviewing it positively on Rotten Tomatoes. It also performed modestly at the box office, earning $74 million, which Deadline reported was a $35 million profit for Lionsgate.
Plane 2 Is Dead in the Water
The news that a Plane sequel is officially cancelled is disappointing, particularly as Colter revealed it was so close to happening.
In 2025, Colter gave Collider an update, telling the outlet that the film's fate was in the hands of the production companies, including Butler's company, G-BASE. The actor said the film was "in their ballpark right now" and was "another thing to pray for."
The movie definitely left things open-ended for Colter's character, Louis, and initial reports about Ship confirmed an exciting journey was in store for him. Deadline reported that Louis would escape the Philippines in the film and travel on a cargo ship bound for South Africa, upon which he discovers a human trafficking ring.
Why Butler decided to pull the pin on Plane 2 isn't entirely clear. The star has worked on a string of sequels to his movies since 2023, including Den of Thieves: Pantera, Greenland 2: Migration, and the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon. While Butler wasn't expected to star in Ship, the movie could've become another action franchise in Butler's ever-growing repertoire.
Colter has since moved on to other projects and is set to lead a new series, Cupertino, from his Evil collaborators Robert and Michelle King. The star is also involved in rumors about his return to the MCU as Luke Cage, possibly following the footsteps of his Marvel Netflix co-stars Charlie Cox and Krysten Ritter.
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