Gerard Butler Attila Photos

Gerard Butler in first-look “Machine Gun Preacher” photo

While Forster has directed hit indie and festival-worthy films in the past (“The Kite Runner,” “Finding Neverland,” “Monster’s Ball”), the action-thriller about a converted drug-dealer didn’t initially sound like TIFF material. But programmers must know something that we don’t, so we’re now heading into “Preacher” with an open mind and increased anticipation.

Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Kathy Baker, Madeline Carroll and Michael Shannon star in Forster’s film, which tells the true story of Sam Childers (Butler), a one-time drug-dealing criminal who finds a new calling as the savior of hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children.

Childers founded the Angels of East Africa rescue organization, which helped repair homes destroyed by civil war.

And now Relativity Media has our first look at the actor in his new role. We have it below:

We’ve been waiting for Butler to get back to meatier roles in pictures like “300” or “Rock’N’Rolla” … and staying as far away from Jennifer Aniston and Hilary Swank rom-coms, where he rarely fits. We’ll do our best to cover “Preacher” in Toronto, though it will be in theaters on Sept. 23 for all to see.

Follow on Twitter for up-to-date news information.

Well, I would have to say the Hilary Swank movie is not any kind of rom-com. Women love it around the world (despite male critics, who never get it), and it is a weeper. There are a few moments in the other two with Heigl and Anniston for women who like to see him up close and personal…but true, although he has a great sense of humor, he is better in amusing films like Rocknrolla. Maybe Playing the Field (directed by Gabrielle Mucino, with Biel, Zeta-Jones, Quaid) will be better. Mavericks, in which he plays a mentor to a young surfer (the reason he has been surfing so much in Malibu and Hawaii), is going to be filming shortly.

Hi-Res Photos: MACHINE GUN PREACHER With Gerard Butler | Rama's Screen

Website: www.machinegunpreacher.com

In this inspirational true story, Machine Gun Preacher is about Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who undergoes an astonishing transformation and finds an unexpected calling as the savior of hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children. Gerard Butler (300) delivers a searing performance as Childers, the impassioned founder of the Angels of East Africa rescue organization in Golden Globe-nominated director Marc Forster’s (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland) moving story of violence and redemption. When ex-biker-gang member Sam Childers (Butler) makes the life-changing decision to go to East Africa to help repair homes destroyed by civil war, he is outraged by the unspeakable horrors faced by the region’s vulnerable populace, especially the children. Ignoring the warnings of more experienced aide workers, Sam breaks ground for an orphanage where it’s most needed—in the middle of territory controlled by the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a renegade militia that forces youngsters to become soldiers before they even reach their teens.

But for Sam, it is not enough to shelter the LRA’s intended victims. Determined to save as many as possible, he leads armed missions deep into enemy territory to retrieve kidnapped children, restoring peace to their lives—and eventually his own. The explosive, real-life tale of a man who has rescued over a thousand orphans from starvation, disease and enslavement, Machine Gun Preacher also stars Michelle Monaghan (Due Date), Kathy Baker (Cold Mountain), Madeline Carroll (Mr. Popper’s Penguins), Academy Award® nominated Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) and Souleyman Sy Savane (“Damages”).

The Hollywood reporter

The Gerard Butler Handbook - Everything You Need to Know about Gerard Butler

Encyclopædia Britannica Almanac 2009

GameAxis Unwired

American cinematographer