It took seven years (nearly to the day) for Den of Thieves 2: Pantera to land in theaters and choose up with the story of our boy Nick “Massive Nick” O’Brien and his quest to catch Donnie Wilson and determine how he pulled off the heist of the century. Although I admittedly watched 2018’s Den of Thieves for the primary time solely lately, the entire time I used to be questioning why it took so lengthy for the sequel to occur. Now I do know, and I hope it doesn’t take too lengthy
Forward of the discharge of Den of Thieves 2, which added one other field workplace victory to Gerard Butler’s title early within the 2025 film schedule, CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell sat down with franchise producer Tucker Tooley, who defined the sequence of unlucky occasions that led to the seven-year break between installments. Right here’s what he needed to say:
We had a number of twists and turns between the primary one. It was by design, you realize. [Director Christian Gudegast], this man proper right here, it was within the script that means. We all the time meant to make a sequel to this, and hopefully extra sequels. However COVID got here and obtained us. We misplaced an actor for one 12 months as a result of an damage. So, you realize, we had a number of issues that have been sudden. After which, actually, we misplaced a tax credit score in a spot we have been imagined to shoot, and we needed to shift location. So, regular movie-making challenges simply (made it) longer than we wished it to be.
It ought to be no shock that the long-in-the-works sequel was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as basically each facet of recent society was affected by the worldwide well being disaster a technique or one other. Once you think about all the opposite tasks which were delayed since, it’s simple to see how the years would add up. And that doesn’t even think about issues like injured actors and last-minute modifications to the taking pictures location as a result of tax credit score points.
All of that being stated, I actually hope that I don’t have to attend one other seven years to see the third chapter in Massive Nick O’Brien and Donnie Wilson’s story. I do know that Den of Thieves 2: Pantera wasn’t for everybody (CinemaBlend gave it a 2/5 evaluation), however this film combining parts of buddy comedies, heist thrillers, and very loud motion flicks was a lot enjoyable to observe. Like, I must see Gerard Butler take down cigarettes and eat donuts off the bottom as quickly as humanly doable.
There are nonetheless a number of unknowns about the franchise’s future, however Tooley’s feedback about “hopefully extra sequels” have me extraordinarily excited for what’s to return. Will it attain the heights of the Quick & Livid films and see Massive Nick flying a rocket or have Donnie racing by way of the streets of Rio after that breathtaking automobile chase in Pantera? I’m unsure. However one factor I’m certain of is the truth that I’ll be there to observe what has change into certainly one of my favourite big-screen properties.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera might not be one of many finest motion films of all time, however that is one thing you don’t need to sleep on for too lengthy. That is very true with one other sequel on the way in which.