A Gerard Butler franchise has received an encouraging update from its director ahead of the second movie’s release on January 10. The Scottish actor started his career during the mid-1990s with a small role in the James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies. During the early 2000s, Butler continued to star in franchise films, playing the eponymous role in Dracula 2000 and appearing in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life in 2003.

After elevating his status with a lead role in Zack Snyder’s 300, Butler went on to star in several more franchises, including lending his voice to the animated How to Train Your Dragon franchise. During the 2010s, Butler starred in the Has Fallen franchise, comprised of Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen, and Angel Has Fallen. Butler’s streak of action franchises has continued with Den of Thieves and Greenland, which will both be receiving sequels in early 2025.

The Den Of Thieves Franchise Gets An Encouraging Update

The Second Movie Releases Soon

Gerard Butler’s Den of Thieves franchise receives an encouraging update from its director ahead of the second movie’s release. Written and directed once again by Christian Gudegast, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera serves as a direct sequel to the 2018 film and continues following Gerard Butler’s Sheriff “Big Nick” O’Brien on the hunt for Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who has fled to Europe and is gearing up for another heist. In addition to Butler and Jackson, Meadow Williams also reprises her role from the first film.

During an exclusive interview with ScreenRant, writer-director Christian Gudegast provided an encouraging update on the Den of Thieves franchise ahead of the second movie’s release. While discussing the time constraints of feature films, Gudegast said they are “building a franchise,” which allows for deeper storytelling over time. Read his full comments below:

Yeah, there’s always a push and pull with that—with the studio, and you have to hit the running time to get the theaters. That’s the thing with feature films, right? In the streaming world, the wonderful thing about the long form is that you can really explore characters and take your time with it. I do the same thing, but for features, it’s hard because the real estate’s so limited. Thank God we’re building a franchise, so we have more room and time to explore these guys. We already have so much left to do, still, with them.

There’s one scene I think we’re going to be releasing prior to the release of the film that didn’t make it, that’s great, between the two of them. There were several scenes [where] we had to kill our babies, so to speak. We had to let a few of ’em go, which is a bummer, but that’s just kind of what it is.

Are More Movies In The Works?

Director Christian Gudegast’s omission that they are “building a franchise” seems to indicate that they are already planning more Den of Thieves movies beyond the first sequel. If so, future films will likely continue following Gerard Butler‘s Big Nick as he tracks down bank robbers. While Gudegast’s update is encouraging, the fate of the Den of Thieves franchise will likely be determined by its box office, with the first sequel releasing early next year.

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Gerard Butler

Birthdate

November 13, 1969

Birthplace

Paisley, Scotland, UK