The Gerard Butler & Pierce Brosnan Stunt That Turned Into A Real Car Crash

When it comes to movie stunts involving actors, the utmost care and planning are often used to ensure everyone involved walks away unscathed. However, sometimes even with numerous precautions and strategies, a stunt can still go haywire. That was the case for Gerard Butler and Pierce Brosnan during the filming of the 2007 thriller "Butterfly on a Wheel," also known as "Shattered." 

The two actors play opposite each other, as Butler's character, Neil Randall, is forced to comply with the commands of Brosnan's character Tom Ryan, who kidnaps Neil's daughter, Sophie. For most of the film, Neil is at the mercy of Tom's twisted demands — except for one key moment involving a car crash.

After discovering that Tom is also a father, Neil points out his tormenter's hypocrisy in his nefarious actions. While Tom drives them to a parking garage, Neil continues to goad him until Tom presses heavily on the gas. It's then that the scene comes to a literal crashing halt as Tom speeds toward the edge of the parking garage roof and crashes into a small wall. The slamming conclusion definitely amplifies the drama, but it was also unplanned, according to Butler. 

While speaking with GQ, the actor revealed that the car crash wasn't supposed to happen, and the vehicle was actually supposed to stop before hitting the wall. As a result, Butler further added that the stunt messed up his neck. He told GQ, " ... When we cut, I crawled out of the car, I fell onto the ground, and I have to say, the rest of that movie was a struggle." So, exactly what caused the stunt to go wrong?

For "Butterfly on a Wheel," Pierce Brosnan may have been too in character during the car crash stunt. After all, the scene in question showcases his character Tom Ryan briefly letting his anger boil over. Gerard Butler further recalled with GQ that on the director's orders, he was supposed to wind up Brosnan more for their scene despite his co-star already displaying more than enough intensity. As a result, Butler believed that Brosnan was possibly too stirred up to properly brake and let a special cable attached to the vehicle safely hold them.

Butler told GQ, " I think he [Brosnan] was so crazy, I don't think he applied the brakes in time, and the cable didn't hold us, so we smashed into the wall, on the edge of this building, and the car goes up, and then the cable pulls us back so we got double the whiplash."

Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any hard feelings from Butler, as he also noted to GQ that he doesn't blame Brosnan for the crash. Besides, in a nice coincidence, the former 007 actor did kind of makeup for the collision by saving another co-star from a vehicle mishap years later. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, while filming "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," a runaway van with no driver was on course to hit some of the cast and crew, including Uma Thurman. But Brosnan yelled for everyone to get out of the way, chased the van, got in, and stopped it.