‘Plane’ Star Gerard Butler Responds to Backlash Over Film’s Title
Gerard Butler is known for starring in action-packed movies like 300 and Olympus Has Fallen. His most recent role starring in the movie Plane looks to be a worthy addition to the actor’s filmography. However, the title’s simplicity has been seen as questionable or even laughable. Butler, meanwhile, has recently come out in defense of the film’s name.
The ‘Plane’ title has been the subject of jokes
In Plane, Gerard Butler stars as the pilot of the titular plane and is forced to make an emergency landing on an island. While a plane certainly plays a major role in the film, basing the entire title around this plane may seem odd. Plane is a remarkably simple name, and it could be viewed as way too basic to set this movie apart from other films.
For example, one of the biggest box office hits of 2023 was possibly even more deserving of the simple Plane title. Top Gun: Maverick was a thrilling experience that critics and audiences both loved, and planes played just as important of a role in it as they do in Plane.
Additionally, there has already been a film titled Planes, an animated film from Disney that is a spinoff of the Cars movies. All of this is to say that it will be difficult for Plane to stick out with other movies already having similar titles or themes.
Why Gerard Butler likes the simple title
Even though the Plane title might receive criticism, Gerard Butler stands by it. In an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Gerard Butler voiced his humorous but sincere support for the name.
A significant point of defense that Butler gave for the name is that Plane is meant to be a classic action movie, and this simple title is intended to reflect this. There are no superheroes or mystical elements in the film. Instead, it’s a movie about a plane, an island, and a pilot attempting to survive.
Butler also stated that the title’s ambiguity allows viewers to give their own interpretations. Why is it called Plane if other aspects of the movie are just as deserving of being part of the title? That is up for viewers to decide.
If someone was still unsatisfied with the title, Butler humorously mentions that it had a slightly different title of The Plane early on.
‘Plane’ has received fairly positive reviews
Jokes about the title aside, critics and audiences have responded quite well to Plane. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a solid critical score of 76% and a highly impressive audience score of 94%. The Critical Consensus of Plane states that even though the movie is not groundbreaking, it is still a strong action movie. This lines up with why Gerard Butler thinks the simple Plane title works for the film.
Despite overall positive reviews from critics and almost universe support from audiences, Plane has not stood out at the box office. Plane hit the theaters on January 12, and according to IndieWire, Plane was the fifth highest-grossing movie on its opening weekend. It earned $10,004,000 that weekend against its overall estimated budget of $25,000,000.
After two weekends in theaters, Plane still has ground to cover if it is going to make up its budget. Box Office Mojo states that Plane has grossed $20,629,713 so far. While there is still a lot of time for the film to make a profit, it seems unlikely that Plane will be a resounding box-office success.
