It took seven years (almost to the day) for Den of Thieves 2: Pantera to land in theaters and pick up with the story of our boy Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien and his quest to catch Donnie Wilson and figure out how he pulled off the heist of the century. Though I admittedly watched 2018’s Den of Thieves for the first time only recently, the whole time I was wondering why it took so long for the sequel to happen. Now I know, and I hope it doesn’t take too long
Ahead of the release of Den of Thieves 2, which added another box office victory to Gerard Butler’s name early in the 2025 movie schedule, CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell sat down with franchise producer Tucker Tooley, who explained the series of unfortunate events that led to the seven-year break between installments. Here’s what he had to say:
We had lots of twists and turns between the first one. It was by design, you know. [Director Christian Gudegast], this guy right here, it was in the script that way. We always intended to make a sequel to this, and hopefully more sequels. But COVID came and got us. We lost an actor for one year due to an injury. So, you know, we had a lot of things that were unexpected. And then, honestly, we lost a tax credit in a place we were supposed to shoot, and we had to shift location. So, normal movie-making challenges just (made it) longer than we wanted it to be.
It should be no surprise that the long-in-the-works sequel was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as essentially every aspect of modern society was affected by the global health crisis one way or another. When you factor in all the other projects that have been delayed since, it’s easy to see how the years would add up. And that doesn’t even factor in things like injured actors and last-minute changes to the shooting location due to tax credit issues.
All of that being said, I really hope that I don’t have to wait another seven years to see the third chapter in Big Nick O’Brien and Donnie Wilson’s story. I know that Den of Thieves 2: Pantera wasn’t for everyone (CinemaBlend gave it a 2/5 review), but this movie combining elements of buddy comedies, heist thrillers, and extremely loud action flicks was so much fun to watch. Like, I need to see Gerard Butler take down cigarettes and eat donuts off the ground as soon as humanly possible.
There are still a lot of unknowns about the franchise’s future, but Tooley’s comments about “hopefully more sequels” have me extremely excited for what’s to come. Will it reach the heights of the Fast & Furious movies and see Big Nick flying a rocket or have Donnie racing through the streets of Rio after that breathtaking car chase in Pantera? I’m not sure. But one thing I am sure of is the fact that I’ll be there to watch what has become one of my favorite big-screen properties.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera may not be one of the best action movies of all time, but this is something you don’t want to sleep on for too long. This is especially true with another sequel on the way.
