For the director, see Morgan J. Freeman

Reprising his role as Allan Trumbull, Freeman appeared in London Has Fallen, the 2016 sequel to Olympus Has Fallen. The film follows a plot to assassinate the world leaders of the G7 as they attend the British Prime Minister’s funeral in London, as well as Secret Service agent Mike Banning’s efforts to protect U.S. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) from being killed. The film was a commercial success;[155] however, writing for The A.V. Club, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky criticized the cheap filmmaking, saying: “The movie periodically cuts to overqualified supporting actors—including Freeman, Melissa Leo, and Robert Forster … (As it turns out, it’s possible to write something that will sound like garbage even when spoken in Freeman’s sonorous voice.)”[156] Next, Freeman reprised his role as Thaddeus Bradley, starring in Now You See Me 2 (2016),[157] the sequel to Now You See Me, the sequel grossing a successful $334.9 million worldwide.[158] Finally, he had a leading role in the historical drama Ben-Hur, the fifth film adaptation of the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace. Freeman expressed interest in playing Sheik Ilderim, a wealthy Nubian sheik, stating: “This character has quite a bit of power in the story. And I like playing power. It’s something about my own personal ego.”[159] Ben-Hur turned out to be one of 2016’s biggest box-office bombs.[160][161]