White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen were essentially the same movie, yet only one of them became a franchise, begging the question of why this was the case for one but not the other. Movies like White House Down or Olympus Has Fallen are certainly not uncommon. Presidential-style action movies have been a common trope for decades in Hollywood cinema, with some of the best political thrillers in history tied to leaders of the United States or their residency.
What makes White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen an interesting pair, though, is that both movies were released in the same year. Both have a central duo who work together to stop a raid on the White House, with Olympus Has Fallen featuring Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman, while White House Down‘s cast is led by Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. The two were released three months apart in 2013, resulting in one becoming a hit franchise with three installments and the other falling to the wayside.
White House Down & Olympus Has Fallen’s Box Office & Critical Reception Explained
Both Movies Were Received Similarly, But Their Box Office Was Different
When looking at why one of these movies spawned a franchise and one did not, the natural first step is to look at the box office and critical performances of White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen. Beginning with the critical reception, there is little to separate the two, just as there is not with the stories themselves. White House Down was ever so slightly better reviewed than Olympus Has Fallen, with the former receiving a 52% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Olympus Has Fallen fell just below that number, with a critical approval rating of 50%.
|
Movie |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
IMDb Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Olympus Has Fallen |
50% |
66% |
6.5/10 |
|
White House Down |
52% |
62% |
6.3/10 |
Interestingly, though, White House Down has one more review than Olympus Has Fallen, potentially explaining the tiny discrepancy. Beyond that, it seems as though movie-goers preferred Olympus Has Fallen, with the film beating out White House Down‘s audience score of 62% on Rotten Tomatoes. Similarly, viewer ratings on IMDb see Olympus Has Fallen ranked slightly higher than White House Down, with the two possessing a 6.5 and 6.2 rating respectively.
Evidently, there is not much space between the two regarding critical and audience ratings. That said, it is the box office performances of Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down that provide a clearer contrast. White House Down earned more than Olympus Has Fallen, with the former earning a worldwide total of $205 million and the latter pulling in $170 million. However, Olympus Has Fallen was produced on only a $70 million budget, whereas White House Down cost over double this amount, with a final production figure of $150 million.
How Olympus Has Fallen Became A Franchise And How The Sequels Compare To The Original
The Fallen Franchise Is Cheaper & More Appealing To Audiences
Based on the box office figures for White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen, it is easy to see why the latter spawned and became a franchise where the former did not. It is a common rule of thumb in Hollywood that a movie must earn over double its production budget to begin turning a profit for the studio. Where Olympus Has Fallen is concerned, the movie earned its budget back, doubled it, and then added another $30 million on top of that. White House Down, however, only just recouped its budget and would have needed to earn at least another $100 million to break even.
This explains why Olympus Has Fallen became a franchise, starting with 2016’s London Has Fallen. While not reviewed as well by critics and fans alike, London Has Fallen proved even more popular among global audiences, earning an improved $205 million against a cheaper $60 million budget. Naturally, the studio ordered a sequel, released in 2019. This film, Angel Has Fallen, is often regarded as the best-ranked Has Fallen movie by fans, with a mᴀssive 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, by far the highest of the series.
Angel Has Fallen also continued to solidify the franchise as a strong one commercially. Despite only grossing $146 million, the third film has the cheapest budget in the series at $40 million. As a result, a fourth film тιтled Night Has Fallen is currently being written, while a TV series spin-off named Paris Has Fallen was released in 2024. Another TV spin-off is currently filming, Apollo Has Fallen, proving beyond all doubt how successful Olympus Has Fallen was over White House Down by spawning a total of five related stories.
Why White House Down 2 Never Happened
The Movie Was Not Successful Enough
To put it bluntly, White House Down did not earn enough money to follow in Olympus Has Fallen‘s footsteps. This is somewhat ironic, given the extra $30 million White House Down earned over its compeтιтor. However, the extra $80 million it cost to produce White House Down proved far too expensive to warrant greenlighting a sequel. Over a decade later, the situation remains the same; the stars involved in a sequel would only cause the budget to balloon even further, rendering a sequel to White House Down something that is highly unlikely to happen.
Olympus Has Fallen Was Ultimately The “Winner” Of 2013’s White House Movies
That Continues Winning To This Day
If it was not already obvious, Olympus Has Fallen was the “winner” of the 2013 White House movies, rendering White House Down the unfortunate loser. The reception to the initial two films alone proves this, with Olympus Has Fallen prevailing where it counts: with audiences. More audience members liked Olympus Has Fallen over White House Down, as proven by the aforementioned Rotten Tomatoes scores. Thanks to the savvy budget of Millennium Films over Sony Pictures’ $150 million, these things combined to make Olympus Has Fallen the winner of 2013.
As evidenced by the exploration of the Has Fallen sequels, the franchise continues to win over a decade later too. White House Down has faded mostly into obscurity aside from a brief streaming service resurgence in 2023. The Has Fallen series, though, shows no sign of slowing down. Two sequels later, another is now in development, with star Gerard Butler seemingly owning a swathe of space in the modern cinema landscape dedicated to loud, fun action movies. When counting the two TV spin-offs too, Olympus Has Fallen is the undisputed champ over White House Down.
