Gerard Butler’sDen of Thieves 2: Panterawasn’t the success the actor might have hoped for, but another big release coming just a few months later in 2025 should prove more than enough to turn things around. AfterDen of Thieves 2’s endingleft plenty of room open for a sequel, it was clear from a story perspective thatDen of Thieves 3’s confirmationwould follow quickly on its heels. But off-screen, there was a lot more reason for doubt.
One particularly notable struggle forDen of Thieves 3will be how the sequel can add toDen of Thieves 2’s castto bring a bit more star power to the film’s marketing. It’s important for any sequel to build on its predecessors in order to justify continued interest, butDen of Thieves 2establishes a specific need for any sequels to up their game to keep the franchise going. However, only if he didn’t have another guaranteed hit coming up,Den of Thieves 2might have given Butler greater cause for concern.
Den Of Thieves 2 Wasn’t As Big Of A Hit For Gerard Butler As Expected
It Made Less Than The First Movie Against A Higher Budget
WhileDen of Thieves 2’s streaming releasemay boost its popularity late in the game, its box office performance was another story. By the standard estimation that a movie needs to make more than double its budget to at least break even, the firstDen of Thievesbarely squeaked by with $80.5 million against a $30 million budget. The sequel fared much worse.Den of Thieves 2made only $56.8 million at the box office, a drop of more than $23 million from the original despite raising the budget to $40 million.
This came as a baffling disappointment for the sequel in light of its slightly more favorable critical reception compared to the first outing. Butler also has at least two major action sequels on the horizon, with the announcements ofDen of Thieves 3and anAngel Has Fallensequel(marking the fourth film in theHas Fallenfranchise), but it’s not entirely clear as yet when either sequel will begin filming. If the actor wants a hit under his belt at any point in the near future, it falls on another highly anticipated franchise film to shoulder that burden.
Gerard Butler Has A Guaranteed Box Office Hit Coming With The Live-Action How To Train Your Dragon
Disney’s Established A Precedent That Even Their Biggest Critics Can’t Deny
TheHow to Train Your Dragonremakereleases on June 08, 2025, and it’s pretty much guaranteed to turn a profit. While some recent live-action remakes produced by Disney performed less than the studio might have hoped, the only major flop in the last five years has beenThe Little Mermaid, which suffered review-bombing yet still made back significantly more of its budget than 2020’sMulan. Butother live-action remakes such asAladdin,The Lion King, andBeauty and the Beasthave all earned more than $1 billionwith budgets of less than $300 million.
How To Train Your Dragon Is Right Not To Change Iconic Moments From The Animated Movies
How To Train Your Dragon’s live-action remake won’t change iconic elements of the story, and that’s the right call for Dean DeBlois to make.
WithGerard Butler reprising his role as Stoickfrom the original film,How to Train Your Dragon’s closest facsimile may beThe Lion King. Disney’s remake similarly chose to bring back James Earl Jones as Mufasa and took home more than $1.6 billion at the box office, the same amount as all threeHow to Train Your Dragonmovies combined.How to Train Your Dragondoesn’t need to achieve anything that extreme to earn a profit, but it’s already got a few things working in its favor to earn much bigger gains thanDen of Thieves 2.
How To Train Your Dragon Was Always A Safer Box Office Play For Gerard Butler Than Den Of Thieves 2
It Didn’t Help That Den Of Thieves Waited So Long To Release A Sequel
The onlyHow to Train Your Dragoncontroversyworth discussing is many fans' concern that it will be too similar to the original. Others complain about its differences, but neither of these issues has hurt most live-action remakes aside fromThe Little Mermaid.Big-budget family films have more mass appeal than a movie likeDen of Thieves 2, and even many adult fans of the original who might’ve given the remake a pass will inevitably wind up buying multiple tickets to accommodate children who don’t care about the movie’s artistic merit, only the adventure.
Remakes likeHow to Train Your Dragonare also generally safer bets because they come from established franchises, in this case, one with a 15-year foothold in the cultural zeitgeist. Numerous sequels, TV shows, and short films have helped cement its place, whereasDen of Thieves 2was expected to earn a profit after giving the franchise seven years to lose momentum between the first film and the sequel. That made the sequel incredibly risky in ways that a family film likeHow to Train Your Dragonsimply won’t have to worry about as much.
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.
How to Train Your Dragon
How to Train Your Dragon, released in 2025, depicts the story of Hiccup, a young Viking who defies tradition on the isle of Berk by befriending Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their friendship uncovers the true nature of dragons, challenging entrenched Viking perceptions and societal norms.
