Gerard Butler’s ‘Afterburn’ Gets a Director

How much game does Gerard Butler have left? Post-'300,' Hollywood tried to make him a star. And - though he's had some good rolls here and there - it just hasn't taken with mainstream audiences. So it's hard to know if it's good news that Tommy Wirkola has signed to direct 'Afterburn,' which has had Butler attached

It's hard to say because Wirkola - who directed the Norwegian Zombie flick 'Dead Snow' - recently helmed 'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,' and that got bumped to January 11, 2013. Now January isn't the dead zone for cinema it once was, but that's not exactly a promising date. And it seems like that the production - which stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arteton - must be troubled to get dumped there. After all, Renner will be coming off of 'The Avengers' and 'The Bourne Legacy,' (on top of last year's 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol') so he's going to be coming off some huge movies.

Neal Moritz is one of the producers on this, so it's likely there's a real budget behind it, and it's based on a graphic novel (by Scott Chitwood and Paul Ens) that deals with futuristic treasure hunters fighting pirates and mutants - all of which sounds promising. Perhaps Butler has been waiting for the right role to make him an A-lister again. The Hollywood Reporter broke this story.