Den of Thieves (released in some countries as Criminal Squad) is a 2018 American heist action film written, directed, and produced by Christian Gudegast. It stars Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Evan Jones, Dawn Olivieri, Mo McRae, and Max Holloway. In the film, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department clique look to stop a gang of thieves consisting of ex-MARSOC Marines that is planning to rob the Federal Reserve in Los Angeles. Show Den of Thieves was distributed by STXfilms and released in the United States on January 19, 2018. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $80 million worldwide. A sequel, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is scheduled to be released in 2024. Plot[edit]In Los Angeles, a team of ex-MARSOC Marines led by Ray Merrimen hijack an armored truck. The ensuing shootout with police leaves several dead, including one of Merrimen's crew, as the hijackers escape with the empty truck. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Detective Nick “Big Nick” O'Brien and his team, the Major Crimes Unit, investigates the robbery, making the recently paroled Merrimen his prime suspect. Nick's team kidnap Donnie Wilson, a bartender who confesses to acting as the thieves' unarmed getaway driver. He describes a large sum of cash stolen from a stadium by the crew, but denies knowing their future plans and is released. Merrimen and his crew prepare to rob the heavily guarded Federal Reserve: with approximately $30 million in old bills each day, they plan to steal the untraceable money before it is shredded. Nick's team tails Donnie, who is hired as a Chinese food delivery driver, allowing him to deliver inside the Federal Reserve. A confrontation with Nick leads Merrimen's crew to suspect Donnie is an informant. Interrogated at gunpoint, he admits he was questioned by Nick; to his surprise, Merrimen orders him to tell Nick when the heist is taking place. Donnie informs Nick but denies knowing the location. Nick sleeps with Merrimen's girlfriend, who – acting on Merrimen's instructions – reveals the crew will be robbing a bank in Pico Rivera. On the day of the heist, as Nick’s team waits nearby running surveillance, Merrimen's crew takes the Pico Rivera Savings & Loan bank hostage, demanding a ransom and a helicopter. When the FBI attempt to negotiate, the crew appears to execute a female hostage. The thieves access the vault and detonate explosives inside, leading Nick to realize this is not their usual M.O. He impatiently storms the bank himself to find the hostages alive, bound and hooded while the thieves have blown their way into the sewers and escaped. Merrimen and his right-hand man Enson infiltrate the Federal Reserve, using the stolen armored truck and stadium money to pose as security guards dropping off cash. Donnie, hidden inside a cart of cash, is wheeled inside a counting room as the thieves disrupt the room's power, making it seem like a common brownout. The employees are briefly sent away, and Donnie triggers an electromagnetic pulse to disable the room's cameras as he sends the bills earmarked for shredding safely down the trash chute. Crawling through an air duct to the restroom, he leaves the building in his delivery uniform as Merrimen and Enson depart. A garbage truck picks up the trash containing the money and is intercepted by the thieves. Nick's team capture Donnie and beat him into revealing Merrimen's escape route. Stuck in traffic, Merrimen's crew spot Nick’s team approaching and exchange fire; Deputy "Borracho" and thief Bosco are killed. Fleeing on foot with Nick in close pursuit, Enson is killed and Merrimen is severely wounded. Cornered, Merrimen raises his empty gun, forcing Nick to fatally shoot him. Instead of the money, only bags of shredded paper are found in Merrimen's vehicle, and the FBI inform Nick that all currency is accounted for at the Federal Reserve, while Donnie has escaped. Nick revisits Donnie's bar only to learn he has quit. Noticing the bar is frequented by Federal Reserve employees, and spotting a picture of Donnie and his friends, Nick realizes Donnie is the heist's true mastermind: gathering information from bar patrons, he was able to plan the entire robbery, and recruited his friends to intercept the money and double-cross Merrimen's crew. Having shipped the money offshore to Panama and escaped to London with his accomplices, Donnie is now working at another bar across from a diamond exchange – his next target. Cast[edit]
Production[edit]The film was in development for roughly fourteen years, where director Christian Gudegast and a writing partner had a blind deal with New Line Cinema in 2003. The project was also later supposed to be distributed by Relativity Media at one point as well. Jay Dobyns, who played the character of Wolfgang, was a former Special Agent and undercover operative with the BATFE and served as a consultant for this film. Filming locations[edit]Production began in January 2017. Director of photography, Terry Stacey, shot the movie using the Arri Alexa XT Plus digital motion picture camera. Although set in Los Angeles, California, Den of Thieves was primarily filmed in and around Atlanta, Georgia. Aerial shots of Los Angeles included the Vincent Thomas Bridge, the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island and the skyline of Downtown Los Angeles. Reception[edit]Box office[edit]Den of Thieves grossed $44.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $35.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $80.5 million, against a production budget of $30 million. In the United States and Canada, Den of Thieves was released alongside 12 Strong and Forever My Girl as well as the wide expansions of Phantom Thread, I, Tonya and Call Me by Your Name, on January 19, 2018. Den of Thieves was projected to gross $7–10 million from 2,432 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up performing above projections, debuting to $15.3 million and finishing third at the box office behind holdover Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and 12 Strong. It dropped 43% to $8.6 million in its second week and another 47% to $4.6 million in its third. Critical response[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 41% of 136 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Den of Thieves pays energetic homage to classic heist thrillers of the past; unfortunately, it never comes close to living up to its obvious inspirations." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Sequel[edit]In February 2018, it was announced a sequel was in development with Gudegast signed on to return to write and direct. Additionally, Butler and Jackson Jr. were in talks to reprise their roles. In May 2023, Briarcliff Entertainment bought the U.S. distribution rights for the film and is expected to be released in late 2024. Is Den of Thieves a rip off of heat?While “The Town” has faced accusations over the years of parroting “Heat” too closely, it has nothing on “Den of Thieves,” which is virtually a remake. Why is Rotten Tomatoes so bad at rating?Rotten Tomatoes' main problem is its lack of nuance, sorting movies into good or bad without considering detail or redeeming qualities. Studios have used Rotten Tomatoes to their advantage, manipulating early reactions and scores to boost audience numbers and box office success. Is 100% on Rotten Tomatoes good?The percentage is based on the film's reviews aggregated by the website and assessed as positive or negative, and when all aggregated reviews are positive, the film has a 100% rating. What is Den of Thieves rated R for?Sex, Romance & Nudity. Brief female nudity (a naked woman runs off screen, trying to cover up; she's seen mostly from the back). Suggested sexual situations. |
