G20 could give Viola Davis her very own action franchise – and its premise is exactly where Gerard Butler’s Has Fallen franchise should have gone. Davis might be one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, but she’s no stranger to action either. She has previously appeared in the Suicide Squad movies and The Woman King, and the trailer for Amazon’s G20 confirms it will be one of her most physical roles yet. She will play the President of the United States in the thriller, who takes matters into her own hands when terrorists seize the G20 summit.

In short, it looks and feels like an old-fashioned riff on the Die Hard formula. The key difference with G20 is that instead of the hero having to save the President – as a typical action movie would do things – the POTUS has to save the day herself. The film looks more inspired by the Has Fallen movie franchise, merging political thriller and action flick. In fact, it feels like the premise the next Has Fallen sequel should have used.

Viola Davis’ G20 Feels Like The Movie The Fourth Has Fallen Should Have Been

Night Has Fallen should have introduced President Banning

Gerard Butler fronted the first three Has Fallen movies as Secret Service Agent Mike Banning. The films always involved Banning having to save the POTUS from various ᴀssᴀssination attempts, but while a fourth film dubbed Night Has Fallen was announced, it has yet to arrive. Nothing has been revealed about the fourth movie’s story either, though after he spent three films saving others, the next logical step was to make Banning the POTUS. This way, Butler’s protagonist gets to avert the next crisis and save his own skin simultaneously.

Mike moving into the Oval Office isn’t that big a stretch in a franchise as ludicrous as the Has Fallen saga. Instead, G20 has seized on that idea, with the entire selling point being about watching a President kick ᴀss. The Has Fallen series wasted an obvious direction to move toward, since the previous entries had pretty much done everything else and President Banning would have been an intriguing new wrinkle. Still, G20 looks like a fun throwback to the high concept action films of the 1990s, while Davis is an excellent choice for the lead role.

Why The Fourth Has Fallen Movie Has Stalled

Butler has been busy elsewhere since 2019

The Has Fallen movies arrived within three years of each other, but the fourth film still shows no signs of happening. A key reason the next outing is taking so long involves a $10 million fraud claim Butler filed against Millennium Media, the franchise’s producers (via THR). The star claimed he was owed unpaid profits from Olympus Has Fallen. This lawsuit was filed in 2021 and wasn’t settled until late 2023.

In the meantime, Butler has been working on other projects non-stop, including Den of Thieves 2: Pantera and the upcoming live-action take on How to Train Your Dragon. Considering the above, it’s not a surprise Night Has Fallen has taken a backseat. Butler has been on a run of hits in recent years – including 2023’s Plane – so it feels like a safe bet a fourth Has Fallen will happen at some point. It might also be a question of timing since Butler looks well-booked for the next few years, including Den of Thieves 3.

G20 Could Launch A New Franchise For Viola Davis

Is G21 on the cards?

It’s too early to tell how G20 will fare with audiences when it debuts on Prime Video in April. Still, the movie is a big-budget action adventure with a name cast, so it should nab a lot of curiosity views. Davis may have landed her own Die Hard-style franchise if it proves a surprise hit. There are plenty of other scenarios Davis’ President Sutton could find herself in – though other movies have tried a White House siege a few times. Regardless, an ongoing action series fronted by a performer of Davis’ caliber would be a real treat.

It’s been interesting to note Davis’s move toward genre material in recent years, including a possible solo Amanda Waller show. G20’s preview makes it clear she’s entirely thrown herself into the action sequences, with Sutton taking part in various fistfights and shootouts with the terrorists who take over the summit. Even if it doesn’t lead to a Has Fallen-style franchise, Davis should still embrace more action roles in the years ahead – if that includes the Amanda Waller show, then all the better.

Source: THR, Rotten Tomatoes