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Gerard Butler to star in Point Break remake?

The Scottish actor is in talks to star as thrill-seeking surfer Bodhi in the film

Jess Denham
Thursday 09 January 2014 09:40 EST
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Gerard Butler is eyeing up his surfboard once again for a role in the forthcoming Point Break reboot
Gerard Butler is eyeing up his surfboard once again for a role in the forthcoming Point Break reboot (Getty Images)

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Gerard Butler is set to star in a remake of 1991 cult action movie Point Break, it has been reported.

The Scottish actor, 44, is rumoured to be in talks to play thrill-seeking surfer Bodhi; a role taken on by Patrick Swayze in Kathryn Bigelow’s original.

Ericson Core (The Fast and the Furious, Daredevil) will direct the reboot, while Salt writer Kurt Wimmer has penned the screenplay.

Alcon Entertainment producers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove are also on board with the project, after the company secured the film, TV and gaming rights for Point Break in 2011.

“The new version is set in the world of international extreme sports, and like the original involves an undercover FBI agent (formerly played by Keanu Reeves) infiltrating a criminal ring,” Alcon told Variety.

It is currently unknown who will be cast in the lead as Jonny Utah.

Gerard Butler, left, as Frosty Hesson in Chasing Mavericks, with Jonny Weston as Jay Moriarity
Gerard Butler, left, as Frosty Hesson in Chasing Mavericks, with Jonny Weston as Jay Moriarity (Associated Press)

Butler is experienced at riding waves for films after appearing as local surfing legend Frosty Hesson in the 2012 film Chasing Mavericks.

But the actor suffered a near-drowning while shooting the action scenes, which in turn contributed to a prescription drug addiction and a spell in rehab.

“I was down for that wave and I was down for a long time just turning, turning and then the next wave came over and I began to think, ‘Wow, I’m going to die making a movie’,” he said during an interview with Good Morning America.

The 300 star was in the sea when he became trapped underneath a ‘two-wave hold down’ – when one huge wave knocks a surfer too deep for them to surface before another hits.

Butler has also been signed to star in fantasy adventure Gods of Egypt and the Olympus Has Fallen sequel London Has Fallen.

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