The Air Force One Sequel Idea That Never Saw The Light Of Day
I think we can all agree that James Marshall was one of our greatest presidents. I mean, he single-handedly stopped a terrorist attack and saved his entire family in the process!
What's that? You don't remember that happening? And you don't remember President James Marshall ever holding office? Well, that's because none of this happened ... in the real world. But in the wonderful world of movies, James Marshall was indeed a president who kicked some ass, and was played by none other than Harrison Ford in the Wolfgang Petersen blockbuster "Air Force One."
In that very silly, very enjoyable film, the official airplane of the President of the United States is seized by terrorists (lead by Gary Oldman!). The President and his family are taken hostage. But this is not your average POTUS! No, James Marshall is a Vietnam veteran and a war hero, so he knows how to handle himself. Sure enough, he's soon taking out the terrorists, saving the day, and uttering the now classic line, "Get off my plane!" Hell yes, 4 more years!
"Air Force One" was a big hit. In fact, it was the fifth highest-grossing film of 1997, and when a movie does numbers like that, sequel talk begins. As it turns out, an "Air Force One" sequel was discussed, and Andrew W. Marlowe, who wrote the script for the first film, spilled the beans on what a potential, never-made sequel would've been about.
They should've called it Air Force Two, we can all agree on that, right?
First thing first: it would be kind of silly for an "Air Force One" sequel to have the President's plane taken over by terrorists again. Which means any sequel would require a change of scenery. Speaking with Syfy, screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe revealed the potential sequel would've taken the story out of the sky and set it at sea — on an Air Force carrier. As he put it:
"Harrison as as president goes someplace, he's on an Air Force carrier, it's attacked, he's in the middle of an unstable geopolitical situation. And so, there are things he can and can't do, because you don't want to inflame it. He's got to navigate it and he's the person at the heart of it. There are many variations on it and with the tuning fork, we didn't get it to the point where we are all like, 'Ah, that's perfect! We're not repeating the first movie. We're building on it.'"
Having Ford's ass-kicking POTUS on a ship has potential, although it also immediately brings to mind the very enjoyable 1992 Steven Seagal pic "Under Siege," in which terrorists take over a battleship and Seagal, as a Navy SEAL (and cook!), has to save the day. In any case, the "Air Force One" sequel never got off the ground, and that's probably for the best, as there's always a chance it would've turned out to be a pale imitation of the enjoyable first film. Now get off my plane!