STXfilms
Probably one of the bigger surprise hits of January was STXfilms’ Den of Thieves, starring Gerard Butler. On the surface, it looked like another typical heist film which we’ve seen a million times before, but the movie showed remarkable staying power, as it grossed $41 million domestically and remained in the top 10 for four weeks.
It’s looking like the movie is doing well enough for STX Entertainment to greenlight a sequel, which will be written and directed by Christian Gudegast, who also wrote the sequel London has Fallen for Butler and Vin Diesel’s A Man Apart.
O’Shea Jackson, Jr. is still in negotiations but Butler, Gudegast, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as well as producers Tucker Tooley and Mark Canton are set to return. DEN OF THIEVES 2 will be financed by Diamond Film Production with STX Entertainment distributing worldwide.
The sequel will follow Butler’s Big Nick as he hunts down Donnie (Jackson, Jr.) through the streets of Europe, as the latter gets involved with diamond thieves and the “Panther mafia” who want to commit a large diamond exchange heist.
Canton and Tooley are producing the sequel with Butler and Alan Siegel’s production company G-base and Curtis Jackson’s G-Unit Film & Television, Inc.
the original Den of Thieves cost a reported $30 million with $25 million of that covered by Diamond Films, but 70% of the budget was made back through pre-sales and tax incentives. The film grossed $57 million globally so far with 35 markets in which the film has yet opened. Den of Thieves opened in the UK last weekend where it became the first of STX’s films to gross more than a million pounds.
One presumes that the announcement of a sequel while the film is still in theaters will help drive up interest in seeing the movie that has given Warner Bros. some serious competition for their own male-driven action film 12 Strong. The two movies have been neck-and-neck ever since they opened in mid-January.
Before then, Butler, who is repped by CAA and Alan Siegel Entertainment, will return for the three-quel Angel Has Fallen, directed by Ric Roman Waugh and co-starring Morgan Freeman and Jada Pinkett Smith. He’ll also once again provide his voice for the DreamWorks Animation animated three-quel How to Train Your Dragon 3. Butler’s also appearing with Kate Winslet in an action movie called Naya Legend of the Gold Dolphin for Magic Factory Productions, plus he just finished filming Keepers, which doesn’t have U.S. distribution as of yet.
Chief Film Critic Drew McWeeny HATED Den of Thieves, possibly because it was over two hours long, so try to keep that in mind for the sequel, Mr. Gudegast. (I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m definitely curious now, knowing that STX want to make a sequel.)
Gudegast and Tolley are repped by WME and Management 360 with Gudegast also repped by Patrick Napp, while “50 Cent” and G-Unit are with APA, Stephen Savva and Eric Feig. Jackson Jr. is also with WME, while Diamond Film Productions is repped by Glenn D. Feig of Reder & Feig LLP.
This news was initially reported by Deadline
Edward Douglas | East Coast Editor
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