The 2023 Gerard Butler film, Plane, climbed to the top of Netflix’s trending titles this weekend, outpacing the Tyler Perry movie, Straw. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, right on Father’s Day.

Under the direction of Jean-François Richet and with a screenplay by Charles Cumming and J. P. Davis, Plane features Butler as a pilot who is compelled to make an emergency landing on Jolo island in the Philippines. As they await a rescue team, he and the passengers must fend off dangerous rebels who threaten and take hostages for ransom. With performances by Mike Colter, Yoson An, and Tony Goldwyn, Plane unexpectedly became a B-movie action hit in theaters, grossing over $47.8 million worldwide. Now, it appears the film is set for even greater success with its availability on Netflix.

Given the frequent news of Boeing plane crashes in recent years, it’s understandable that some viewers might wonder: Is Plane on Netflix inspired by a true story? Here’s the information we have.

Is the Gerard Butler Plane movie based on a true story?

The 2023 movie Plane is not based on a true story. It entirely fictional, ie; a story that is made up and not based on real-life events. The movie is based on an original pitch from British spy novelist Charles Cumming. Plane was not based on a previous novel, but was Cumming’s idea. Cumming co-wrote the Plane screenplay with J. P. Davis.

In a 2023 interview with Hollywood Insider, Cumming said he got the idea for Plane while on en route to a vacation with his family in Egypt in 2016, and that he originally envisioned the movie taking place in Syria.

“It was the height of ISIS’s campaign in Syria and Iraq,” Cumming explained. “I thought, ‘What would happen if our plane had been diverted by bad weather, and it had come down and crash-landed in Syria, and was set upon by terrorists?’ I thought it was a great idea for a movie, so I came to LA. I pitched it, and I sold it, and then [the story] was moved to the Philippines. But that was the kernel of the original idea.”

Prior to Plane, Cumming was already a successful spy novelist, including the 2010 New York Times bestselling book, The Trinity Six.

Though Plane is not based on a true story, some Filipino officials took issue with the movie’s unflattering portrayal of their country, and argued that it was not accurate. In the movie, the real-life Jolo island is portrayed as an area overrun by gangs, separatists, and unauthorized militia. It’s implied the island has slipped away from the Filipino government control.

Filipino senator Robin Padilla called on the president to ban and condemn the movie.

This is not the first time the Philippines has banned, or proposed banning, a Hollywood film. Both 2022’s Uncharted and 2019’s Abominable were banned in the country after the movies portrayed a China-endorsed map that showed the disputed  “nine-dash line” territory.”