Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got a new franchise as this year’s action flick “Plane” is getting a sequel, and it’s going to move the action from the air to the sea.

Granted, most of the first movie took place on an island inhabited by terrorists, but that’s not the point. The follow-up will be titled “Ship” meaning yes, it will be taking place on a big ship and will, once again, put Mike Colter in an unenviable situation. Cinema, it would seem, is alive and very well.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Colter, of “Luke Cage” fame, has officially boarded the sequel and will reprise his role as Louis Gaspare. Unfortunately, it looks like Gerard Butler won’t be teaming up with him this time around, as his character Brodie Torrance is a pilot and not a man of the sea.

Director Jean-Francois Richet is returning to executive produce, but no word yet on a writer or director. Not to spoil too much of the first film, but Gaspare was a prisoner who escaped extradition after his flight went down and, following a harrowing ordeal with the aforementioned terrorists, he’s got to try and find a way to a new life. Naturally, he makes his way to a boat, where things go wrong. A synopsis for the film reads as follows:

The sequel will see Gaspare hop aboard a cargo ship in East Asia to escape the Philippines, only to discover the vessel is being used as a ferry for a human trafficking ring.
That has Gaspare joining with the second mate/navigator to take down the ship’s corrupt captain, keep its innocent passengers safe and liberate its captives.

We have some questions

The big question now is, who is going to play the second mate? That person will, in essence, be taking over Butler’s role as the second slot in the two-hander we have set up here. Begin your fan-casting now. The project is currently being shopped around at the European Film Market in Berlin.

MadRiver Pictures, Di Bonaventura Pictures, and G-BASE are all returning to produce the follow-up. No word yet on if Lionsgate is in the mix to pick up the sequel or not, as they distributed “Plane.” Though, one does wonder if they would even be interested.

“Plane” currently sits at $43 million at the global box office, against a budget said to be between $25 and $35 million. When accounting for marketing and what theaters keep of the ticket sales, it would appear very much like the film is not yet in profits. Has it performed exceptionally well on VOD?

That seems to be the only thing that would make sense at this point. The other option is that the sequel will be much, much more cost-effective. Similarly, the original “Escape Plan” made just $103 million against a $70 million budget a decade ago, but it received two much cheaper sequels. Again, that was a Lionsgate production.

In any event, this one seems to be well underway already as the plan is apparently to shoot it later this year, meaning they are not going to waste a second in capitalizing on what is, apparently, a good opportunity for the producers. “Ship” does not have a release date set but sometime in late 2024 seems possible, if not early 2025.