Den of Thieves 2: Panterais a heist film sequel seven years in the making. Written and directed once more by Christian Gudegast, the movie continues the stories of detective “Big Nick” O’Brien (Gerard Butler) and heist mastermind Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) after the events of 2018’sDen of Thieves. In a twist on the relationship between Nick and Donnie in the first film,Den of Thieves 2: Panterasees the pair working together,The Odd Couple-style, to plan and execute a diamond heist from Europe’s biggest diamond exchange.
As with the first film, Gudegast looked to real-world events to inspire the events of the movie. This time around, the director meticulously researched many real-world diamond heists, even speaking with people involved with both sides of the crimes. Gudegast was so thorough thatDen of Thieves 2: PanterastarGerard Butler said, “You could watch this movie and be able to take down a diamond exchange.”
Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera Pits Gerard Butler Against O’Shea Jackson Jr. In New Poster
Exclusive: Screen Rant presents the Den of Thieves 2: Pantera poster, highlighting the returns of franchise stars Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr.
ScreenRantspoke with Christian Gudegast about his work writing and directingDen of Thieves 2: Pantera. The director discussed getting the details of the heist sequence right,turning Gerard Butler into a criminal, and why the film took so long to make. Plus, Gudegast spoke on his favorite moments to direct in the sequel.
Christian Gudegast Explains The Long Wait For Den Of Thieves 2
There Were A Few False Starts Before The Movie Was Finally Filmed
ScreenRant: There was a six-year wait to make the sequel happen. Was that more due to the creative process things or the state of the world in general?
Christian Gudegast: The state of the world. The first hit was Covid. We were just about to do it, then Covid hit, and that was that. Then we had an actor injury to their knee, one of our leads, so that took another nine months or whatever. And we were going to make it in Belgrade and Croatia, then the war hit with Ukraine and all the Ukrainians fled to Belgrade and Croatia and there were no Airbnbs or hotels to house the crew. Then, it was going to be France, and then the exchange rate got messed up for us and we had to go to a different tax credit state. We had many, many… just the realities of production these days.
Gudegast Talks Coming Up With The Sequel’s Story & Working With Gerard Butler On The Script
Nick & Donnie Going To Europe Was Always There, But “Collaboration is Fundamental To This Franchise”
There are so many sequels that don’t live up to the original because they don’t do anything new. I feel like what you do that’s new is thisOdd Couplerelationship between Nick and Donnie. How early in the process did you land on them working together as the way to make this movie be its own thing?
Christian Gudegast: From the beginning, because we knew we were moving into Europe, and that meant blending American characters in Europe and American cinema with European cinema. Being that that’s the case, we knew we wanted to play with these two Americans over in Europe, what that means for them, and the culture clash. Nick’s probably never been to Europe, and we knew we wanted to have fun playing with those dynamics, so that was sort of mapped out from the beginning. And again, to speak what you said, [it was] to give it an original flair.
I spoke to Gerard Butler about this movie, and he told me that you two worked closely together on this, even before shooting. What was that collaboration like, and what did you two go back and forth on the most?
Christian Gudegast: The collaboration is fundamental to this franchise. He and I have a shorthand. We work very, very closely together, and he’s almost like an extension of me in that sense. I write scenes, I send them to him, we kind of play with them, put them on their feet, go over the dialogue, and find little bits of magic.
When you know what actor’s going to play a certain role when you’re writing, it makes it so much easier, as opposed to writing a spec script [where] you have no idea who’s going to end up playing the role. When you know who they are, it completely changes the process. It becomes much more calibrated to them, and much more specific. It’s kind of liberating because you know exactly what you can and can’t do, and who they are. You understand the characters much better because you know who’s going to be bringing life into them. It’s a super healthy, wonderful process.
Gudegast Reveals His Favorite Things To Film As A Director & The Fight To Keep Some Of Them In The Movie
The Director Teases There Is “So Much Left To Do” With These Characters
As the director on set, is there an aspect of this that is the most fun for you to direct? The comedy moments, the heist sequences, or something else?
Christian Gudegast: On the day, it’s the comedy stuff, because it’s right in front of you and brings a good mood to the set. The action stuff is very step-by-step and takes a long time and you get little pieces, and that’s more just the discipline and craft of shooting a movie. But the comedy stuff, when you’re there on the day, is definitely the most fun.
BothDen of Thievesand its sequel are upwards of two and a half hours long. They really take their time. Did you face any pressure to cut anything, out or was there anything that you really had to fight for to make sure made it to the final cut?
Christian Gudegast: 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 may 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.
Gudegast On Filming Heist Sequences & Getting Inspired By The Real World
“That’s Why I Do What I Do”
The heist sequence in this is pretty long and drawn out, yet it’s really tense the whole way. How much of the tension of a scene like that are you all feeling and creating on set, and how much is built up with music, sound effects, and editing in post?
Christian Gudegast: My job is to remind the actors and the crew where we are in the film, so everyone was really, really dialed in. But it takes so long to do, and you’re all over the place—you’re in different locations—so, it’s a combination of the two, but it really comes together in post when you’re putting it all together. There are so many little pieces and you’re not shooting it on consecutive days. Everybody was very, very dialed into what we were doing, but you build it in post.
One of the coolest things that I found in reading about this was how much research you did. I read that you worked with law enforcement and some of the people who did the Antwerp heist. What were they all like, and how did they feel about this event 20 years later?
Christian Gudegast: It wasn’t the Antwerp heist, it was different ones, but it was everything. It was amazing. That’s why I do what I do. That’s really the fun part. To actually have access to these worlds and these people is fascinating and you get so much amazing material, so it was very, very cool. The thing about them is they’re all very impressive people. They’re all very bright. To pull off these heists is very difficult and it takes extraordinary discipline and intelligence. Take away the legality of it all, and what they did is really impressive.
Is there a heist that’s inspiring you as you think of the next movie?
Christian Gudegast: Yes.
About Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera
Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. 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.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Cast
Sheriff “Big Nick” O’Brien tracks Donnie Wilson to Europe after his daring escape. As Donnie becomes deeply involved with diamond thieves and the Panther mafia, the stakes rise with a plan to rob the world’s largest diamond exchange.
