‘Olympus Has Fallen’: Live chat with director Antoine Fuqua

Join director Antoine Fuqua and Times staff writer Glenn Whipp for a live video chat about Fuqua’s latest film, “Olympus Has Fallen,” and his career at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time Thursday.

The action thriller “Olympus Has Fallen” stars Gerard Butler as a former Secret Service agent who must save the day as North Korean terrorists wreak destruction across Washington, D.C., and take over the White House.

The FilmDistrict release arrived in theaters last week and grossed $30.5 million, which ended up being the second-biggest opening for a non-family film this year.

PHOTOS: Scenes from ‘Olympus Has Fallen’

“I wanted to create an exciting movie, but give it these small moments of truth,” Fuqua told The Times before the film opened. He noted that he sought to show America’s post-9/11 vulnerability, with such scenes that include a desecrated American flag, discarded from atop the White House by North Korean terrorists, falling in slow-motion to the ground as dirge-like music plays.

But amid the pyrotechnics, Fuqua said, is a more delicate subject: that of a guilt-ridden man trying to atone for his mistakes.

“There’s a lot of spectacle in this film because that’s what much of the audience wants to see,” Fuqua told Times staff writer Steven Zeitchik recently in a Los Angeles editing suite. “But this is also a movie about wanting to get a second chance and the universe saying: ‘You’re going to have to earn it.’ ”

The theme is a recurrent one for the 47-year-old director, whose work has included the 2001 police drama “Training Day,” the 2003 Navy SEAL rescue tale “Tears of the Sun” and the 2007 conspiracy thriller “Shooter.”

So what’s next for Fuqua? Join us for the chat to find out.

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