Does Gerard Butler rescue the passengers?

Over the years, Gerard Butler has cemented himself as a bonafide action star in Hollywood. From the high-stakes Has Fallen film series (2013–present) to disaster flicks like Geostorm (2017) and Greenland (2020), Butler has officially locked into his flight path as a go-to guy for adrenaline-fueled chaos.

One of his most recent hits, Plane (2023), has soared with audiences. In this high-altitude thrill ride, Butler plays Brodie Torrance, a commercial pilot who pulls out all the stops to protect his passengers. Beyond the plot’s sharp turns and sky-high tension, some creatively grounded action sequences make great use of the film’s aviation backdrop.

Below, we’re diving into the wild landing that is Plane‘s ending, including whether Torrance saves the day and if a potential sequel is on the horizon.

What is Plane about?

Lionsgate’s official synopsis of Plane promises a wild ride, going as far as to call it a “white-knuckle action movie.” The nail-biting story kicks off with pilot Brodie Torrance (Butler) making an emergency landing on a war-torn island after a lightning strike nearly takes out his plane — but the real trouble begins after they touchdown.

“When most of the passengers are taken hostage by dangerous rebels, the only person Torrance can count on for help is Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), an accused murderer who was being transported by the FBI. In order to rescue the passengers, Torrance will need Gaspare’s help, and will learn there’s more to Gaspare than meets the eye,” the synopsis continues. 

The film was just as intense offscreen as it was onscreen, seeing as Butler revealed on Late Night With Seth Myer that he accidentally smeared phosphoric acid on his face during the shoot. Still, the Scottish actor thrives on this kind of gritty, high-stakes storytelling.

He previously told Screen Rant, “It’s like an everyday man in a very out of the ordinary … everyday people actually in a very out of the ordinary situation. And how do we as a people or as an individual deal with that situation? What is it going to pull out of us? What are the decisions that we have to make that will go wrong?”

Why does Brodie team up with Louis?

Once Louis reveals he’s a former military officer who was sentenced for a crime he committed as a teen, Brodie decides to remove his handcuffs.

Brodie briefly contacts the airline’s emergency hotline, but the operator doesn’t believe the flight crash-landed in hostile territory. Instead, he reaches out to his daughter Daniela (Haleigh Hekking), who helps relay crucial information about their whereabouts to David Scarsdale (Tony Goldwyn), a former Special Forces officer leading the rescue.

Scarsdale then bands together with airline owner Terry Hampton (Paul Ben-Victor) to organize a rescue mission involving a team led by Shellback (Remi Adeleke). Scarsdale is frustrated to learn Brodie was forced onto low-profile flights after a past incident in which he restrained an unruly passenger. But he’s even more enraged by Hampton’s admission that the airline pushed him to fly through dangerous weather to save money.

When local militia forces attack and cut off Brodie’s communications, he and Louis soon realize that warlord Datu Junmar (Evan Dane Taylor) and his squad have taken the passengers hostage and plan to transport them by boat for ransom. Louis soon trains Brodie on how to fight and use a weapon as they prepare to rescue the hostages before it’s too late.

What happens at the end of Plane?

Brodie and Louis join forces with Shellback and the mercenaries to free the hostages. But knowing rescue won’t arrive for another day, Brodie works quickly to repair the damaged plane. Louis warns that surviving in the jungle isn’t an option, so Brodie decides their best shot is to get airborne as soon as possible.

Junmar and his men are still hot on their trail, but luckily, the mercenaries hold them off long enough for Brodie to board the passengers and contact Scarsdale, who tells him to land on a nearby island where a rescue team awaits. As the plane takes off, Junmar makes one last attack, only to be killed by the landing gear as the aircraft climbs into the sky.

In the end, Brodie finds the rescue team and calls his daughter, relieved to be safe and looking forward to spending time with her. As for Louis, he stays behind to take down a rebel just as they try to fire a rifle-propelled grenade at the plane. He’s presumed alive after slipping into the jungle with the ransom money, choosing freedom over certain imprisonment.

Butler later revealed to Uproxx that he came up with the idea of Brodie flying the plane into Junmar himself, stating, “It was something I had pitched to everybody.”

He continued, “I love being able to put into big ideas, the small ideas, and think of them from an actor’s point of view. What are those magical moments? What are the challenges that we can put in? What are the surprising bonding moments, twists, and turns? But then the bigger moments, always, I’m all about that. You know, realize you can take it anywhere. I can take this anywhere! You make it as crazy or as weird, but then the challenge is, always, but how in that moment do you make it believable? Even if the audience is, oh, that’s crazy, but if they’re in it, they’re with you.”

Will there be a Plane sequel?

In February 2023, Deadline reported that Colter would reprise his role as Louis Gaspare in a sequel to Plane, aptly titled Ship. Butler isn’t expected to star, but he reportedly could make a cameo appearance.

As of March 2025, development on Ship has stalled. Speaking at Indiana Comic Con during a panel moderated by Collider‘s Maggie Lovitt, Colter provided an update:

“The status on that is that it was a thing that happened during the strike,” he said. “They were supposed to be following through on it [then the strike happened]. There’s things going on. Obviously, Gerard and his company that produce that, they own the rights to it. So that’s a question for them moving it forward, because I got things going on. I’m sure he’s got things going on too, he’s shooting stuff. But I’d love to do the sequel, but it’s kind of in their ball park right now. It’s another thing to pray for.”

Where can I watch Plane?

Plane is now streaming on Netflix.

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