‘Den of Thieves 3’ in the Works

O’Shea Jackson Jr. is also likely to return for the new movie, and Lionsgate is in talks with writer-director Christian Gudegast to oversee it once more.

(L to R) Gerard Butler as 'Big Nick' O'Brien and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson in 'Den of Thieves 2: Pantera'. Photo Credit: Rico Torres.

Preview:

A third ‘Den of Thieves’ movie is in development.
Gerard Butler will return as Nicholas “Big Nick” O’Brien.
Christian Gudegast is in talks to write and direct.

Since it opened domestically back on January 10th, action thriller sequel ‘Den of Thieves: Pantera’ has proved to be something of a success for Lionsgate –– which certainly needed one after its nightmare run of box office bombs last year.

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera

"The score isn't settled."

R2 hr 24 minJan 10th, 2025

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch Den of Thieves 2: Pantera Online

So it won’t surprise you to learn that the studio is looking to get a third entry in the ‘Thieves’ franchise up and running as soon as possible.

Lionsgate has announced that star/producer Gerard Butler and co-star O’Shea Jackson Jr. are both likely to return for the new entry, while writer/director Christian Gudegast is also in talks to make it.

The new movie is now in active development.

What’s the story of ‘Den of Thieves’ so far?

(L to R) Maurice Compte and Gerard Butler in 'Den of Thieves'. Photo: STXfilms.

The original, directed by Gudegast from his script (itself based on a story he concocted with Paul Scheuring), is a gritty L.A.-set crime saga following the intersecting and often personally connected lives of an elite unit of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. and the state’s most successful bank robbery crew.

The outlaws, led by Ray Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber), make a violent armed attack and hijack an armored truck. Police officers arrive on the scene and engage in a shootout with the robbers.

Eventually, Merrimen and his crew escape with the empty armored truck. In the morning, Detective Nick O’Brien (Butler) investigates the crime scene, having been monitoring Merrimen and his crew for a while. Suspecting a local bartender named Donnie (Jackson Jr.) for involvement, Nick finds him at the bar and kidnaps him for interrogation. Donnie reveals Merrimen is planning to rob the Federal Reserve on Friday of that week by covertly removing about $30 million in old bills which are scheduled to be shredded after their serial numbers are deleted from computer records…

The cast also included the likes of 50 Cent, Meadow Williams, Brian Van Holt and Maurice Compte.

(L to R) Pablo Schreiber as Ray Merrimen and O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson in 'Den of Thieves'. Photo: STXfilms.

That first movie, released by STX and Relativity in January 2018, carried a $30 million budget and opened to $15.2 million, eventually ending up with more than $80 million worldwide.

Following STX’s financial difficulties the producers brought the sequel to Lionsgate.

‘Den of Thieves: Pantera’ picks up the story as Big Nick is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie, who is embroiled in the treacherous world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world's largest diamond exchange.

Through the past three weeks in theaters, ‘Pantera’ has grossed $32 million at the domestic box office, standing as Lionsgate’s highest-grossing film in theaters since the start of 2024.

The film was released on premium on-demand last week and has earned more than $41 million worldwide so far.

What will ‘Den of Thieves 3’ be about?

(L to R) O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson and Gerard Butler as 'Big Nick' O'Brien in 'Den of Thieves 2: Pantera'. Photo Credit: Rico Torres.

At this early stage, Lionsgate is keeping the potential plot for the new movie quiet but given that ‘Pantera’ ends with Big Nick double crossing Donnie and Donnie ending up in prison, only to be broken out and find himself summoned by the gangster he stole the jewels from, we’ll see them both back in action.

However it turns out, Tucker Tooley Entertainment and Butler‘s G-BASE companies will once more be producing the mayhem.

Here’s what Jackson Jr. told Variety about a potential future for the franchise before the new one was announced:

“I’m not gonna sugarcoat it: I’m trying to Vin Diesel this thing. To quote Ryan Reynolds, I want to work with Gerard until he’s 90. I have such a family feel with these guys. I know how much I want to do these other films, but we cannot cheapen this beautiful thing that we made. This one took six or seven years to get done. I hope the next one doesn’t. In our heart of hearts, we won’t make it if it’s not right and if it’s not the same thing that made audiences fall in love with the franchise in the first place.”

Given how quickly this new one has dashed into development, he may get his wish… And we could be looking at ‘Den of Thieves: Care Home Heist’ in a couple of decades.

When will the third ‘Den of Thieves’ movie be in theaters?

Lionsgate hasn’t yet announced when the new ‘Den of Thieves’ might head to theaters, but given the success of the second, we’d expect this one to be fast-tracked.