Den of Thieves 2: Pantera ended with a shocking twist, which wasn't originally going to play out like it did, according to star Gerard Butler, who plays Nick.
While Nick was a good guy in the first film, Den of Thieves 2 sees him break bad and join Shea O'Jackson Jr.'s Donnie and the Panthers in a massive diamond heist.
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.
However, just when they are celebrating their big score, it's revealed that Nick turned them into the police behind the scenes. While the rest of the Panthers are left to rot in prison, Nick does offer a little under-the-table help to Donnie, who escapes prison and goes to work for the mafia.
The Direct's Russ Milheim was able to sit down with both Butler and Pantera director Christian Gudegast to discuss the film's big ending and how it evolved throughout the process.
Gerard Butler Reveals Nick's Big Twist Ending Used to be Different
"That Was One of the Things That I Definitely Pushed For..."
- The Direct: "The end of the movie reveals that Nick did not break bad, and he does betray everybody. So why did he do it? Why did he choose not to follow through?"
Gerard Butler: Well, by the way, that was something we did not have in the original script. So that was one of the things that I definitely pushed for, was not to just leave Nick turning in Donnie and then just going, there was a version where I left with Chava, you know [the person who] works at the diamond center.
And this was just a much better ending because you know what, Nick––What I love about this movie is the bonding between the two, [Donnie and Nick], and they're surprised by each other. Nick now sees that he has somebody who's on his level, and he didn't expect that. And I think they learn who each other is, and I think he's surprised and feels a little guilty...
But I don't think it was a decision that he made way back, and I've argued with people, even Christian, we have a different idea. I believe he changed his mind. I believe he really went there thinking, I'm doing this, I'm doing this. And then somewhere down the line, maybe around the church, he kind of went, 'What am I doing? This is not me.'
Director Christian Gudegast Explain's Nick's Mindset
Nick Realizes "I Just Can't Go Against Who I Am"
- The Direct: "In the end, it's revealed that Nick didn't actually break bad, and he does choose to turn everyone in in your own words, with how the story played out. Why do you think he did that?"
Christian Gudegast: He's very conflicted throughout the film. His life at home is basically screwed. He's divorced. His family has left him. He's been sort of let go from his job and put on leave, and then he comes to Europe, thinking he's going to go after Donnie.
And then when he, first, on the way over, he meets with the diamond police, and he doesn't really like them, doesn't really get along with him. Feels like a fish out of water. Then suddenly, he sees Donnie, and strangely, it's like seeing an old friend, even though, because he's in a foreign environment, it's something familiar that he gravitates towards.
But at the end of the day, he realizes I just can't do it. I'm a cop. I just can't go against who I am. He felt almost fraudulent. So, at the end of the day, after all that, he's like, a tiger can't change the stripes. I just gotta stick with my core beliefs, and this who I am, I gotta take him down.
- The Direct: "Gerard was mentioning that was a change that he was pushing for, because originally, Nick wasn't potentially going to change. How much convincing did it take? How much was that conversation to [figure out] this was the right path forward for this character?"
Gudegast: I mean, in writing the script, we sort of went through many, many variations of it. We tried a bunch of different stuff. We wrote different scenes, and that was a long, difficult conversation, and we put the scene on its feet, we play with it, see how it worked, and then we sort of felt our way through it.
And even when we shooting the film, we shot a few different scenes for the ending. We're always just sort of emotionally feeling our way through it. We want to shoot the film, see how it felt, the performances and everything, to really make the final decision once we shot it, once we were in the editing room. But that was a difficult call.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is now playing in theaters worldwide.
