Pantera Trailer Brings Back Gerard Butler & O’Shea Jackson Jr.

Calling all dudes and dudes at heart: “Den of Thieves 2” just unleashed its first action-packed trailer. Clocking in at almost 3 full minutes, this sequel to 2018’s action hit looks like just what the doctor ordered, provided your doctor wants you to eat fried cheese and chug PBRs. “Den of Thieves,” written and directed by Christian Gudegast, was essentially “‘Heat’ for dirtbags” — a big, greasy pastiche of a bunch of far better crime thrillers that came before it. It was derivative, it was silly, it was kind of amazing. The common consensus about “Den of Thieves” is that its trash — and I agree, but I don’t mean that in a mean-spirited way! I love trash, especially when it’s handled with care, and Gudegast worked hard to craft a surprisingly entertaining shoot-em-up about cops and robbers. 

At the center of the film was B-movie king Gerard Butler, who spends the majority of the film looking more hungover than anyone has ever looked in the entire history of people being hungover. Butler played Detective Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department cop who is first introduced eating a donut off the ground at a bloody crime scene. Nick and his boys have become aware of a gang of bank robbers, lead by Marine vet Ray Merrimen, played by Pablo Schreiber. The cops think they have an inside man, flipping one of Ray’s crew members, Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), to their side. But ah, there was more than meets the eye here! In an ending shamefully stolen from “The Usual Suspects,” Nick learns that Donnie was not a hapless member of the gang — he was actually the mastermind! And while the rest of the gang ends up being killed in a hail of bullets, Donnie gets away, heading off to London with the loot.

“Den of Thieves” could’ve been a one-and-done film, but the movie proved to be a surprisingly big hit. As a result, a sequel was announced all the way back in 2018. Now, that sequel is almost upon us in the form of “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” (can I get a hell yeah?). Watch the trailer above. 

At the end of the first “Den of Thieves,” Donnie had set up shop across the street from a diamond exchange in London. “Den of Thieves 2” will continue with this idea: Donnie seems to be working with a new crew, and they’re going to pull off a diamond heist. But that’s not all! Big Nick has tracked Donnie down, but he’s not there to arrest him. As we learn, Big Nick has been fired from the police force and he’s broke. His solution: team up with his enemy Donnie and get in on that sick heist action. F**k yes.

I want to be perfectly clear here: I don’t think the first “Den of Thieves” movie is a “so bad it’s good” situation. The movie isn’t bad at all! It’s just very, very trashy. But trash can also be art, and writer-director Christian Gudegast had a great handle on his material. As a result, “Den of Thieves” was compelling and exciting, and some of the action scenes pack a real punch. On top of all that, you had Gerard Butler owning the entire movie as the perpetually drunk Big Nick, a memorable character from the jump. 

Now, “Den of Thieves 2” looks like it’s going to amp things up. It looks bigger than the first movie, and I’m sure Gudegast has more twists in store for us. In fact, he said as much when he talked about the movie back in 2018, stating: “It’s all going to be set in Europe. And it’s going be about Big Nick hunting Donnie, who’s involved in a diamond heist and he’s teamed up with the former Pink Panther mafia, and it’s about Nick hunting him … Nick is also going to be hunted by another group, I won’t reveal right now … there’ll be a few different kinds of twist in this one. It’ll be hopefully very surprising.”

I can’t friggin’ wait. Here’s the official synopsis:

Gerard Butler (Plane, Has Fallen series) and O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Out of Compton, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) return in the sequel to 2018’s action-heist hit Den of Thieves. In DEN OF THIEVES: PANTERA, Big Nick (Butler) is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie (Jackson), who is embroiled in the treacherous and unpredictable world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world’s largest diamond exchange.

“Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” shoots its way into theaters on January 10, 2025. And if you can’t get enough of that “Den of Thieves” action, I have good news. In a new piece over at The Ringer, Gudegast seems to confirm there will be yet another movie! “The idea is to constantly have movement with the franchise, which we’re going to do with [Den of Thieves] 3,” he said. “We’re going to go to another world.”