Summary
Audiences love the winning combination ofGerard Butlerand filmmakerChristian Gudegast.
The film co-stars Kurdish actressEvin Ahmad(Who Is Erin Carter?)
and Italian actorSalvatore Esposito(Fargo).
Image via Marvel Comics
Gudegast and Tooley spoke with Colliders ownSteve Weintraubto discuss all thingsDen of Thieves.
Which Comic Books Did Christian Gudegast Collect?
COLLIDER:I’m here at a CCXP in Brazil, and everyone here collects something.
For both of you, is there anything that you collect or used to collect?
CHRISTIAN GUDEGAST: Yes!
X-Men, Avengers, Ghost Rider, Aquaman Aquaman was big Silver Surfer.
Image via STXfilms
Youre talking about comics, right?
GUDEGAST: Comics, yeah.
TUCKER TOOLEY: For me, it’s baseball cards.
Image via Lionsgate
I started collecting when I was a kid, so I have a good collection.
Both comic books and baseball cards have gotten more popular again.
If you could get the financing to make anything you want, what would you make and what?
Image via Lionsgate
Do you have a great script that you’ve never been able to get off the ground?
GUDEGAST:Black Flag.
It’s a pirate epic that we’re gonna make one of these days.
It’s a big movie.
It’s the 17th century Indian Ocean and a true story about the East India Trading Company.
Yeah, it ain’t cheap.
Big Nick is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie, who is embroiled in the treacherous world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world’s largest diamond exchange.
No, it’s not cheap.
TOOLEY: But it’s epic.
Oh, so this is both of you?
You both have been trying to make this film.
Moving onto why I get to talk to you guys.
Or was it after it did pretty well at the box office and it came out?
TOOLEY: It was by design.
GUDEGAST: By design from the very beginning.
We just have too much great material to stop now.
So it’s always been by design.
We’ll continue on.
You still have to come up with all the beats.
I saw the places, walked through how it was done.
At the same time, on the other side, I met with all the thieves themselves throughout Europe.
Next thing you know, you have a very compelling heist.
If you don’t mind, I have to do a follow-up.
How hard is it to do interviews with people who have pulled off heists?
Do they want to talk, or do you have to convince them?
GUDEGAST: That’s a very good question.
If it’s illicit, what they did, they’re very closed off at first.
They’re very guarded.
That’s why the important thing for me is to never be atouristin the world.
Not be a guy like, Hey, I’m a writer from Hollywood.
Let’s go meet at Starbucks, and tell me your story in an hour.
They’re buddies of mine now.
Before that, you just get cursory stuff that you’ve seen in other movies.
We’re not doing that with theDenfranchise.
or, They wouldn’t have done it that way, or, That wouldn’t have happened.
That wasn’t real.
I’m fascinated by the editing process because it’s obviously where it all comes together.
GUDEGAST: More quickly, we were with Nick.
We can be a little morepropulsiveon our journey to Europe.
That was a huge stand-out from the first test screening.
They’re what we call: Pretty good together.
TOOLEY:[Laughs] Yeah, they are.
To say the least.
GUDEGAST: There are quite a few.
One of them will be coming out pretty soon.
TOOLEY: The 19th, actually.
GUDEGAST: On the 19th as a sort of little special for people to see.
You have to kill some of your babies, as they say, and that’s never easy.
But the end result is then what’s there is a highlight reel of what you shot, right?
So, it ends up working out.
Could We Be Getting a Longer Cut of ‘Den of Thieves 2’?
“If it’s good content, who cares what the running time is?”
TOOLEY: I can answer that because I was on the receiving end of it.
Two hours and 46 minutes.
TOOLEY: That was the cut that we were like, “It’s never getting shorter.”
Then, we actually made it a lot shorter.
GUDEGAST: Thank you.
[Laughs]
I understand the theatrical component.
But for fans, I would love to see the longer version if you do Blu-ray or something.
I’m being so serious with you.
Why not releasethe longer version on Blu-ray for people?
What’s the difference?
GUDEGAST: Great minds think alike, brother.
I’m with you.
They’re watching 10 hours of something, and they sit there and watch in one frickin night.
If it’s good content, who cares what the running time is, right?
I’m talking for me, personally.
I’m not talking about theatrical releasing and distribution that’s an animal in and of itself.
I don’t care.
If it’s great, it’s great.
I mean,The Irishman.
People are like, It’s so long!
Well, its phenomenal.
Brace yourself for a long time at the movies!
Again, I agree with you.
TV has gotten more popular than ever because they have more time with the characters.
Let me give you an example:The Batman.
It’s three hours, but it’sfuckingawesome because of all thequietmoments.
GUDEGAST: Exactly correct.
If you’re more emotionally invested, it makesthatmoment land much stronger.
Den of Thieves 2: Panterais in theaters now.
