Shuvrajit Das Biswas
Heist movies are always exciting. Although you know that the robbers are wrong, a good heist movie makes it a point to ensure that viewers also empathize with the robbers, so much so that we often want them to evade the law. That being said, it is tough to escape the long arm of the law, and justice closes in, forming some of the most thrilling moments of heist movies. ‘Den of Thieves’, the 2018 heist action thriller captures this perfectly. Some might recognize the influences taken from Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’.
Directed by Christian Gudegast, the movie was released in some countries as ‘Criminal Squad’. The plot follows an elite group of County Sheriff Deputies who try to stop a gang of thieves, who happen to work with military precision and an immense degree of sophistication. As the robbers plan on hitting the Federal Reserve in Los Angeles, the cops try their best to anticipate and apprehend them. Notably, the film is inspired by the real-life attempt to rob the Federal Reserve. Upon release, it was met with generally favorable critical reviews, while ‘Den of Thieves’ became a commercial success, making $80.5 million against the $30 million budget of the movie.
There’s no need to hold your breath about a sequel since we already know that one is in the works. Here is everything we know about ‘Den of Thieves 2’, which has officially been titled ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’.
Den of Thieves 2 Plot: What Is It About?
‘Den of Thieves 2’ picks up from where the previous movie left off. We saw the people involved in the previous heist unwinding in London, where Donnie happens to be planning the next score, which is the nearby diamond exchange. When ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’ begins, the scene will shift to Europe. We are likely to see a plethora of exotic locations including Belgium, Marseilles, the Cote d’Azur, and Montenegro. Overall, the understanding is that the sequel is aiming for a lighter tone as compared to the gritty original.
Nick O’Brien or Big Nick will be seen tracking the bad guys from the former heist while getting closer to Donnie. Unfortunately, Donnie happens to be on the run from the Pink Panther mafia after a diamond heist goes wrong. Tracked by the Interpol and Big Nick, one would expect Donnie to lay low, but instead, he is involved in the plans to pull off a heist on the world’s largest diamond exchange. Much like the first movie, which was based on true events, the sequel, too, is inspired by the real-life case of the Antwerp diamond exchange heist of 2003. The two main surviving characters, Donnie and Nick, will be at the center of the story.
It is quite evident that Nick has left his family and troubles back home to keep chasing bad guys, which has become an obsession of his. Gudegast spoke about the project, saying, “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 along with… Nick is also going to be hunted by another group, I won’t reveal right now. It’s gonna, there’ll be a few different kinds of twists in this one. It’ll be hopefully very surprising.”
Gudegast has also revealed a string of movies that have influenced the upcoming sequel. They include the likes of ‘Gomorrah‘, an underrated Italian film about modern-day crime families and ‘Suburra‘, an Italian gangster movie about politics and power play in Vatican City and Rome. He has also been inspired by ‘Sexy Beast’ the 2000 crime comedy, and Robert De Niro’s heist thriller, ‘Ronin‘.
Den of Thieves 2 Cast: Who Is Going To Be In It?
As far as the cast of ‘Den of Thieves 2’ goes, we know that Gerard Butler is returning as Nicholas “Big Nick” O’Brien, the hard-drinking cop who will be chasing the robbers, as is O’Shea Jackson Jr. was in talks to reprise his role as Donnie, which has now been confirmed. Other cast members remain unknown for now, but we do know that Meadow Williams will also be reprising her role as Holly. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson plays Levi Enson Levoux in the first movie and he might be back as well.
Den of Thieves 2 Crew: Who Is Going To Be Behind It?
We already know that ‘Den of Thieves 2’ has Christian Gudegast returning to the director’s chair. STX was originally on board for the sequel but backed out. Sierra/Affinity is handling the international sales of the upcoming movie. eOne and Tucker Tooley Entertainment are financing the project. Tucker Tooley, Mark Canton, Alan Siegel, and Butler are on board as producers along with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Meadow Williams is executive producing.
The crew has remained more or less the same from the first project and will definitely be looking forward to recreating their magic in the upcoming ‘Den of Thieves 2’ movie.
Den of Thieves 2 Release Date: When Will It Premiere?
‘Den of Thieves’ was in development for almost fourteen years before the movie came out in 2018. There is no reason to let your heart sink to the floor since the sequel will take nowhere as long. The wheels have already been set in motion since the cast and crew are mostly in place and the story for the upcoming film has been planned out already as well.
According to the plans, ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’ will begin production towards the end of 2019, which leads us to believe that we should expect the movie to release late in 2020. If we are to make a conservative estimate, we would say that the sequel to ‘Den of Thieves’ should be expected sometime in 2021.
Den of Thieves 2 Trailer:
‘Den of Thieves 2’ does not have a trailer yet, but the movie is already in the works. This makes it the perfect time for you to check out the trailer for ‘Den of Thieves’, to get an idea of what the sequel will be dealing with.
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