‘Den of Thieves’ 3 in Development at Lionsgate with Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Expected to Return

“Den of Thieves” fans might not have to wait another seven years between sequels.

A third movie in the Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson-led franchise is in development at Lionsgate, IndieWire has learned, with both Butler and Jackson expected to reprise their roles as rogue cop “Big Nick” O’Brien and master thief Donnie Wilson, respectively. Christian Gudagest, who wrote and directed both “Den of Thieves” and “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” is also in talks to return for the third film.

Tucker Tooley Entertainment and Butler’s production company G-BASE are also set to return as producers on the project. Lionsgate will distribute the film.

No plot details have been announced.

“Pantera” topped the U.S. box office with a $15.5 million opening weekend and has grossed $32 million domestically to date. The film debuted on PVOD on Tuesday, January 28. The first “Den of Thieves” grossed $80 million worldwide.

“Den of Thieves” was made on a budget of $30 million, while “Pantera” upped the budget to $40 million, but the franchise prides itself on shooting action spectacle as cheaply and quickly as possible.

“Sometimes you would like a bit more time, but generally the faster I move in a movie, the better,” Butler said during a recent interview with IndieWire. “There’s less time to think about it and overwork things, and you’re just in it… It’s guerrilla filmmaking and we get as much movie in there as we can.”

Released in 2018, the original “Den of Thieves” followed Big Nick as he pressured Donnie, a mole in the world’s most elite crew of bank robbers, for information about a plot to rob the Federal Reserve — only to find out that he was being played the entire time. “Pantera” flipped the premise and saw Nick and Donnie team up on a diamond heist — though it also featured enough twists to ensure that the franchise could continue in any number of directions. The original film has some cult appeal, including art house director Christian Petzold among them.

“Even if nobody was asking for ‘Den of Thieves 2,’ it might be time to start crossing our fingers for “Den of Thieves 3,” IndieWire’s “Pantera” review reads. “Butler and Jackson’s frenemy dynamic is firing on all cylinders by the end of ‘Pantera,’ and the overlap between the characters’ mutual respect for one another and insatiable desire to screw each other over could lead to endless future adventures on both side of the law.”

No release date or production timeline for “Den of Thieves 3” has been announced.

Tucker Tooley Entertainment previously partnered with Lionsgate on “Arthur the King” and is also behind the upcoming documentary “Finding Satoshi.”