Gerard Butler & O’Shea Jackson Jr. about Working Together in Den of Thieves 2

ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke with Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. Butler and Jackson Jr. discussed reuniting for the new Den of Thieves sequel, how they got into character for certain scenes and more.

“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,” reads the official synopsis. “In Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, Big Nick (Butler) is back on the hunt in Europe and closes in on Donnie (Jackson), who is embroiled in the treacherous and unpredictable world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther Mafia. planning a massive heist of the world’s biggest diamond exchange.”

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera hits US theaters on January 10, 2025.

Brandon Schreur: I just loved the dynamic of your characters in this movie. Especially because in the first film you stand up to each other. Here it is a bit back and forth, but for much of it you are as comrades-friends. I thought it was a lot of fun to watch. I’m just wondering, when you first got the script for Den of Thieves 2, was this what you expected the sequel to look like? Did you see any of this coming when you were making the first film?

Gerard Butler: Absolutely not, no. I don’t think, to be honest, we didn’t make the first film ever with the intention of making another. The first one just felt like a standalone, really cool story. The more we did it, the better it felt. So when it came out, we thought, ‘I think we made a classic movie with just a lot of great moments, unforgettable story and characters.’

But when all of a sudden it was me jumping over to the other side, catching up with him and saying, ‘No dude, that’s not how I want to do it – go to jail or work with me.’ It’s a fascinating concept. It jumped; because where do you take it in the next movie? There were a lot of places we could have taken it to without going that far, but this way opened up a whole other thing that I think allows us to never really know where we are in terms of the excitement, the brotherhood, the bonding, the trust, the lack of trust, the twists, turns, the rug being pulled out from under you, and the excitement.

O’Shea Jackson Jr.: It definitely felt like number one when Christian called and told me, ‘Okay, let me give you an overview of where we are.’ He said, ‘Big Nick wants to team up with you.’ It’s like getting your rival team’s best player in the offseason. It’s a great feeling.

It’s definitely not where I thought things would end, and that’s where it needs to be. In this new age, we have fans – or audiences, should I say – who are smart enough to see things going a certain way. They expect or they know what will happen next. Then you start to get involved in the clichéd way of doing things. When you can open a new door to opportunity, that’s when you can keep them entertained and remind them, ‘Nah, man, just enjoy the ride, see where we take you.’

Oh, I totally agree. And it’s so entertaining, the whole ride, you never know what’s coming next, and I love that about the movie. Gerard, there’s a scene – or a couple of scenes, really – I need to talk to you about where your character goes to a club, takes a whole lot of drugs and starts dancing around. It looks like he’s having the time of his life, but I guess it’s actually pretty hard to act and people don’t realize it. How do you go about capturing that kind of energy in that moment?

Butler: Well, that day I walked around – do you remember? I just pretended I was on drugs the whole time. That is, every moment. I touched things and just kind of felt it. I even told my dialect coach that I had just done a lot of ecstasy beforehand. And I’m sober. So she went away and got worried and said, ‘Gerry’s on drugs, he’s tall as a kite and he’s making this movie!’

You have to commit to it. It’s a lot harder than it looks, but the more you commit to it, the more fun you’ll have. And it was a lot of fun. In the club with the conversation, the dance and just improvisation. It was a lot of improvisation – it was fun. But you have to remember that even if the rest of the club is dancing, they are also looking at you. Everyone is sober, but everyone is acting and watching you a little out of the corner of their eye.

There were some embarrassing moments, but then hopefully the scene at the end will (pay off). I loved it, (Jackson Jr.) was so funny in that scene. Amazing.

Jackson Jr.: As for that scene, I’ve been to Coachella before. I know what goes down. I’ve been there. I went to USC bro. You come down.

Thanks to Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. to discuss Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.