Gerard Butler's next action film, Olympus Has Fallen, will be released in theaters nationwide on Friday.

Butler (300, Movie 43, The Bounty Hunter) plays Mike Banning, a former Secret Service agent who has fallen from grace and forced to work for the U.S. Department of The Treasury after a tragic accident occurred when he worked for the president of the United States. Aaron Eckhart (Dark Knight, Thank You For Smoking) plays President Benjamin Asher who is held hostage as the White House is being destroyed and taken down by North Korean terrorists.

The Speaker of the House, (Morgan Freeman) is assigned the temporary role of Commander-In-Chief and works closely with the White House staff, the military and the director of the Secret Service (Angela Bassett) to figure out options to save the lives of the president and his closest aids. Their only hope lies in Butler's Banning, who had expressed a desire to work for the president again.

Banning seizes the opportunity to save the president by using his special operative Secret Service skills and knowledge of the White House residence to survive a series of near-death experiences in his attempt to save the president and his son. Tension rises and the film's pace setting increases when the terrorists begin executing the hostages until their demands are met.

When the terrorists attack the Pentagon, it eerily resembles the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Fallen also suggests what might have happened if the Islamic terrorist group al-Quaeda had success attacking the White House, which was also targeted in real-life that same fateful day.

Butler, who is also the film's producer, said the film is "gripping and compelling...you'll be spoiled for the choice, really." 

The film's director, Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Brooklyn's Finest) used extensive research and his award-winning moviemaking experience from helming other action films to portray a realistic thriller. Eckhart said his goal was to make the president both a "heroic character" and a "tough guy" because he gets "hit and kicked around pretty good." He described the film as a "straight-up, full-on, full-tilt action."

The film also stars Dylan McDermott (FX's American Horror Story, The Campaign); Academy Award-winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter, Frozen River) who plays the president's secretary of defense, and the head of the security for the South Korean prime minster is played by Rick Yune (Die Another Day, Fast And Furious, Man With The Iron Fists).

Watch the preview video of the White House being taken down below.

Tags: Olympus Has Fallen Gerard Butler film review video