The Bricklayer 2 Can Finally Give Aaron Eckhart His Perfect Replacement For $532 Million Franchise After 8 Years

Summary The Bricklayer could give Aaron Eckhart a new action franchise with the character of Steve Vail.

Eckhart's last action series was the Has Fallen franchise, which he exited after the second entry.

The Bricklayer has a sequel book titled Last Chance to Die (AKA Agent X).

If Aaron Eckhark's thriller The Bricklayer receives a sequel, this would finally give the star a replacement for his former action franchise. Despite his incredible performance as Harvey Dent/Two-Face in The Dark Knight, Hollywood never quite knew what to do with Aaron Eckhart. Despite being a great actor and having movie star looks, he was largely wasted in forgettable outings like Love Happens. A failed bid to become an action star with the terrible I, Frankenstein in 2014 appears to have paid off in the long run, however.

Beginning with 2019's Line of Duty, Eckhart has fronted several action movies that have gone straight to streaming, with titles like Muzzle and Ambush. The Renny Harlin directed The Bricklayer cast Eckhart as a former CIA agent pulled back into action to hunt down a former friend. The Bricklayer only earned 48% on Rotten Tomatoes but has proven a surprise hit on Netflix. If nothing else, it proves there is always an audience for meat and potatoes action programmers.

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The Bricklayer 2 Can Finally Give Aaron Eckhart A Has Fallen Replacement

Aaron Eckhart stepped away following London Has Fallen

Olympus Has Fallen Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available Olympus Has Fallen an action thriller film and is the first in the franchise. The film follows former army ranger/special service agent Mike Banning who lost his position after the death of the President's wife. When a North Korean terrorist group attacks the White House, Banning must tune back into his old skill set to save the president and the country from nuclear devastation. Director Antoine Fuqua Release Date March 21, 2013 Distributor(s) FilmDistrict Writers Creighton Rothenberger Cast Morgan Freeman , Gerard Butler , Aaron Eckhart , Rick Yune Runtime 120 Minutes Budget $70 million

Provided The Bricklayer is enough of a success to warrant a sequel, this would give Eckhart a franchise where he's finally center stage. Eckhart's last movie series was the Has Fallen franchise, where he played President Benjamin Asher in the first two installments. While Gerard Butler may have done the lion's share of the action as Secret Service agent Banning, Eckhart was still the co-lead. In London Has Fallen, Eckhard even got to perform some action himself.

With The Bricklayer and the Steve Vail character, Eckhart has the chance to launch his own ongoing action character.

Eckhart exited the series following London Has Fallen, with the next entry Angel Has Fallen having promoted Asher's Vice President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) to President. With The Bricklayer and the Steve Vail character, Eckhart has the chance to launch his own ongoing action character. Maybe part of the appeal of Herlin's film lies in its lack of CGI spectacle or bombast, and instead focusing on old-fashioned fistfights, shootouts and car chases.

Renny Harlin has also directed action movies like Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Deep Blue Sea.

The Bricklayer has more than earned it's lukewarm critical reception, but it is still an enjoyable, late-night action romp. It helps to have an actor of Eckhart's caliber fronting it, who gives the material the type of boost that Liam Neeson gave to Taken. The Bricklayer 2 would confirm Eckhart's move into the action genre, and he has more spy thrillers like Chief of Station - co-starring Olga Kurylenko and Alex Pettyfer - on the way.

Related The Bricklayer Interview: Aaron Eckhart On Performing His Own Stunts & The Dark Knight Trilogy The Bricklayer star Aaron Eckhart discusses performing his own stunts, what attracted him to the role, and The Dark Knight trilogy being grounded.

Gerard Butler Was Originally Attached To The Bricklayer – Why Aaron Eckhart Replaced Him

Has Fallen's leading man nearly beat Eckhart to the punch

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The Has Fallen Movie Franchise Box Office Gross Rotten Tomatoes Score Olympus Has Fallen (2013) $170.3 million 50% London Has Fallen (2016) $205.9 million 28% Angel Has Fallen (2019) $146.7 million 38%

In 2011 it was announced (via THR) that Gerard Butler had signed on to star in The Bricklayer, with the original novel by the late Paul Lindsay having been published a year prior. This was before Butler and Eckhart signed on to Olympus Has Fallen, which debuted in 2013. It's unknown how far this take got into development, however, since outside the announcement of Butler signing on as Vail, little was heard of the project in the years that followed.

Despite stepping back from the lead, Butler still serves as producer on The Bricklayer, where both Eckhart and Harlin signed on in early 2022 (via Deadline). It was also pitched as a potential new franchise by producers Millennium Media, who worked with Butler and Eckhart on the Has Fallen series. The former has a knack for taking B-movie material like Plane or Den of Thieves and elevating it, so there is a chance The Bricklayer may have become a theatrical affair had Butler played Vail as originally planned.

The next installment in the Has Fallen franchise will be the TV series Paris Has Fallen, which won't feature Gerard Butler as Banning.

Will The Bricklayer 2 Happen?

Steve Vail had another book adventure

Custom image by Brennan Klein

Considering The Bricklayer was greenlit with franchise potential in mind and has been a comfortable hit on streaming, a follow-up is a distinct possibility.

The Bricklayer's ending doesn't directly set up another story, though it left both Vail and Nina Dobrev's Kate alive and kicking. The original book earned a sequel titled Last Chance to Die (AKA Agent X), with the story seeing Vail and Kate re-teaming to take on Russian double agents. Considering The Bricklayer was greenlit with franchise potential in mind and has been a comfortable hit on streaming, a follow-up is a distinct possibility.

Assuming the stars align, there's still the question of whether Eckhart wants to make a Bricklayer sequel. Just because the original Bricklayer was produced with sequels in mind, that doesn't guarantee he wants a repeat performance as Vail. When Eckhart exited after London Has Fallen, he seemed adamant that was the end of the road for him with that particular character.

Director Renny Harlin sounded interested in another go around with the series (via Eye For Film), so time will tell. Vail is a great character for Eckhart, so it would be nice for a follow-up digging deeper into his past. Plus, The Bricklayer puts him fully front and center, instead of constantly needing to be saved by Gerard Butler.

Source: THR, Deadline, Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes, Eye For Film