Gerard Butler to star in sequels to Den of Thieves and Olympus Has Fallen.
Gerard Butler will have a pretty full diary over the next year or so with the announcement of not one but two sequels to his previous starring roles heading into production.
With a third film in the Olympus Has Fallen series in the pipeline, he is set return as White House security aide Mike Banning alongside his previous co-Star Morgan Freeman and franchise newcomer Holt McCallany (Mindhunter), who is said to be playing an old friend of Banning, Wade Jennings, an ex-military man who’s now the head of a technology company. This third chapter is said to follow Banning as he becomes the target of a terrorist attack which will be set to take place on Air Force One, whilst in mid-flight.
Butler recently teased that the third film would be comparable to Hugh Jackman’s Logan in that it would show his character paying the price for everything he went through physically in Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen. Butler added that this movie provides a more more challenging journey for Banning as he has been “set up for this assassination attempt on the President.”
On top of that it appears that the 300 star may have has found himself another franchise. Den of Thieves 2 is also set to happen with Butler returning as well as many of the original cast (including Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson), also on board is the first film’s director Christopher Gudegast, who will also be overseeing the new script. Deadline reports the following synopsis:
“[Den of Thieves 2] will find Big Nick (Butler) on the hunt in the streets of Europe closing in on Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) who is embroiled in the dangerous world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther Mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world’s biggest diamond exchange.”
STX Entertainment will distribute Den of Thieves 2 worldwide, with Diamond Film Productions set to finance. Mark Canton and Tucker Tooley will produce the sequel, with Gerard Butler and Alan Siegel’s production company G-BASE. 50 Cent will also produce Den of Thieves 2, via his G-Unit Film and Television production company.
Den Of Thieves is currently on release in UK cinemas.
Source; Deadline, Movieweb