A key component for the success of the 2018 action-thriller Den of Thieves was the on-screen chemistry between the characters played by Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson, Jr., and while the entire ensemble cast contributed their own unique perspectives, the ending of that film set the stage for some exciting tension in the sequel. Given that their two characters have plenty of unresolved business that they might not see totally eye to eye on, their reunion in this sequel is more than worth the price of admission for fans of the first film. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is set to land in theaters on January 10th.
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“He was he was my neighbor while we were shooting,” Jackson shared with ComicBook of his relationship with Butler. “We even had, like, a cast and crew barbecue one day. There were a lot of things like that. Like there might be, I might be on my phone while on set and then Gerard would airdrop me some nonsense photos of somebody on the crew. We had these funny little bonding things where we’re just talking smack with your homie.”
He continued, “From there, it translates on screen to that buddy-cop feel. It was such a night and day [difference] from the first one, because we were separated during the first one. It was good guy-bad guy.”
Den of Thieves 2 – Pantera is described, “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 2 – 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.”
In the first movie, Butler’s “Big Nick” embodied a number of masculine and typically toxic traits, while Pantera offered the actor the opportunity to show a bit more vulnerability.
“I think you saw moments of that in the first movie, that you realize a lot of his bravado and machismo is actually coming from a scared little boy who grew up and was like, ‘Damn, look at me. I can be tough. I can play with the big boys,’” Butler detailed of his character’s evolution. “But there’s little moments in there where you see that he does have a heart and he is dealing with some trauma and now the trauma is a little more obvious of what he’s been through between these movies.”
He added, “It allowed me to go somewhere with the character that when he starts, he’s feeling a little bit over it, a little bit fed up. Unappreciated, humiliated by this guy, but I was, funnily enough, I trained as a lawyer and I ended up being fired. It was the worst day of my life after seven years … But the thing that it did, it freed me. I always knew that it freed me to do whatever I wanted and that’s why I got into acting in a way that’s just, that’s what’s happened with Big Nick here.”
As far as whether Pantera marks the end of the pair’s collaborations, Butler was quick to point out, “We’re just getting started.” Jackson contributed, “What do you mean, bro? We can’t let the fire go out when we’re our hottest. As long as we keep leaving them open at the end, it’s all about the public and their support.”
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is set to land in theaters on January 10th.
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