“I threw away and trusted a lot more in this film,” explains Gerard Butler as we discuss the action sequel Den of Thieves 2: Pantera in a suite at London West Hollywood. “Right before I did that, I had a conversation with Robert Downey Jr. because I was going through some stuff. He said, ‘Dude, just come over. Throw it away. Who cares? You’re there.’ It took the weight off my shoulders and I went in.”

“As an actor you always want to say, ‘I really want this to work,’ but part of me said, ‘Trust him. Just go and have fun. Make it up as you go along’, And that’s what I did. It was a fun experiment for Big Nick and works well in the film.

2018 Den of thievesthe first film in what is now the franchise, grossed $80.5 million against a budget of $30 million when it hit theaters in January 2018. Although it received mixed reviews, the film has continued to gain a strong fan base in recent years.

“Some people say the fan base was surprising, but I always believed in our film,” admits the Scottish actor, who is also one of the producers. “I was very proud of it.” Den of thievesbut it was amazing how it resonated with people. This type of film will never be for everyone, but it is suitable for many people. What I particularly liked is that a lot of people who liked it really liked it. It has developed a fanatical base and I think that’s because they don’t make films like that anymore.”

Why it took seven years to deliver a sequel to Den Of Thieves

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera picks up right after the events of the first film. Butler returns as “Big Nick” O’Brien, who is on the trail of Donnie Wilson, once again played by actor and producer O’Shea Jackson, who has fled to Europe and is planning another heist. With plenty of exciting set pieces and echoes of a ’70s thriller, it’s a mid-budget cat-and-mouse action film that Hollywood doesn’t produce much these days. Why is that?

“I don’t have an answer to that because I’m one of the people who still makes them,” shrugs Butler. “I love these kinds of films. I think films morph and change, for better or for worse, and a lot of films that survive in theaters now are big films or particularly small art house films, and often that’s not the case with mid-range films.” If Looking at the films they put out, I understand why they don’t make films like this today. If you get the rare bird, I believe Den of thieves That said, I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera will be in theaters on Friday, January 10, 2025.

Seven years have passed in between Den of thieves. With a loyal audience ready and hungry for content, why did it take so long?

“People have commented on how long it took to make this, and maybe it shouldn’t have taken quite as long,” laughs Butler. “There was money, timing and, frankly, the right script. The first film was very specific in its narrative. We thought about how to take it to the next level and keep up with the twists and surprises, but we wanted to give it a new style and tone and bring it to Europe. We stripped away a lot of the heavy stuff from the first film and still got a little bit of a vacation get a lot of those dark European vibes, but you also get the plush, sexy side of Europe, and that gave us a lot of leeway to make the film look cinematic , and that’s why I think it really works in the cinema.

How “Den Of Thieves 2” harkens back to the franchise’s LA roots

Along with Butler and Jackson Jr., writer and director Christian Gudegast returns Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. Even though the action has moved to Europe, parts of the film are still set in LA, with hyperlocal references that excite fans, but can sometimes be too hyperlocal.

“The Hofbrau and the Hawaiian diner whose name I just forgot, even on the streets where they are mentioned, are all real places in LA. “Christian is so obnoxiously specific in his work, and sometimes you have to pull back,” Butler says with a laugh. The audience might miss some of it, and sometimes you have to say, “Let’s make it more cinematic.” The result is such a complex story. There is an intensity and down-to-earthness because he focuses on the truth as much as possible and deals with things. I’ve never seen a director or writer I’ve worked with put even a tenth as much into something as Christian did in his research and attention to detail.”

“We pushed it to the limit across the board on this film, and there’s a lot in it. I feel like this movie has such an epic feel from the beginning, with Nick in LA and Donnie starting the first one, the heist that starts the second one, right up to the point where we end up and even the relationship stuff with the mafia, there’s so much going on at the end that I’m like, ‘Wow, that was really an…’ adventure.'”

Gerard Butler wanted the action sequences to be as real as possible

While Den of Thieves 2: Pantera Based on the 2003 Antwerp diamond heist, the heist was an exercise in guerrilla filmmaking and pushed the cast and crew to their limits.

“The actual robbery, from the moment we entered the building to the moment we left, I think we shot for three or four nights. It was so hot. These costumes were made of neoprene; you could hardly breathe in it because it was in the Canary Islands.” “Islands in the summer, and we go into small rooms with no air conditioning,” says Butler, who is also known for this Olympus has fallen And Greenlandremembers. “We filmed, and then we did it again and again, and then we moved on to the next part and the next step. We tried to film as much as we could, as quickly as we could, and that was part of making it feel as real as possible, so we didn’t have time to think about it or make it special.

“It was like, ‘We’re leaving, we’re going to make it. We’re moving.’ We’re in this shit. We’re in the elevator shaft. Oh my God, how do we get to the next place?’ “How do we move as a group?” It was very complex and very tiring, and we were all overheated. When you see it, you say, “Yes, that works.” It had to be that way to make it so exciting.”

He continues passionately: “We narrowly escaped in both this robbery and the chase. In the car chase at the end, which I find so exciting, it was a big deal for me to say, ‘When?’ If everyone commits to this, let’s make it as violent as possible. When a bullet hits the car, it’s loud, it’s crazy, it’s violent, and if we all understand that, then we’ve got what we need between the conventional effects that are in there and the effects The ones they do with the sound afterwards are incredibly intense. I was really proud of how that came about, but we screwed it up even in the way we did it, it was something raw, outrageous, and it was very clever, but there was also a lot of tension between the really funniest characters I’ve ever had ever had with a character because you don’t know what he’s what he’s going to do next.

Gerard Butler never expected his successful franchises to come

With Den of Thieves 2: Pantera Leaving the door wide open for a third film and beyond wasn’t the right thing to do 300 And Geostorm Star’s plan. Apparently that’s never the case.

“I don’t think I’ve ever chosen a film thinking it was a second film or a trilogy. This has just begun. “I have a lot of franchises, but that was never the plan,” shrugs Butler. “With Den of thieveswe announced the second film almost on the same day the first film came out; I was a little bit like, ‘Oh, really? Now I’m super glad we did that. I didn’t expect there would be a second Greenland. When I made the films, I didn’t expect that there would be more films Olympus has fallen. I had no idea at all that there would be a second film and beyond. It was just, ‘Please God, let’s do it.’ Let’s make this a good movie.’ It was that simple. However, I seem to have become Mr. Franchise at the moment, and definitely in the independent sector, although one of them is How to train your dragonwhich is definitely studio level.”

He concludes: “I remember when we first started and people said, ‘You need to get a franchise. The franchise is everything,’ and I thought, ‘Really?’ I thought, “No one will ever want to do a franchise with me. I’d be lucky to get a movie, let alone a franchise.” Now I’m like, “What? We’re making this a franchise too?” I didn’t expect it to be like that, but it was really fun. I don’t really do television, so you don’t get the chance to do an episode, come back, spend time with a character, so do that and play Big Nick and get to play him a second time and still get into other roles , is great.”