Gerard Butler's Den of Thieves 3 gets a setting update — the heist thickens
O’Shea Jackson Jr. has narrowed the target for Gerard Butler’s Den of Thieves 3 heist, binning one fan-favourite locale and leaving only some continents still in play.
The whole business of picking a destination for the next Den of Thieves film has just got more intriguing, thanks to O'Shea Jackson Jr. running his mouth (in the best possible way) during an interview. Jackson, who's played Donnie Wilson across the series, has given away just enough to fuel the rumour mill – but also shut down a fan-favourite location before anyone gets too excited.
Heists Across the Globe—but Not Everywhere
If you need a recap: Donnie can't really waltz back to America at this stage, after that first film's Federal Reserve fiasco. The second outing – Den of Thieves 2: Pantera – took things to Europe, where Donnie managed to knock off the World Diamond Center. So that rules out both the US and Europe for the next job, according to Jackson. That leaves, as he helpfully pointed out, four continents still on the table (if you want to get pedantic, that's some combo of Africa, South America, various bits of Asia, and one or two oddball wildcards depending on your definition).
Jackson confirmed that while a Japanese heist would be 'so dope,' with cherry blossoms, katanas and all the Fast and Furious cars, it's not going to happen—so fans banking on Japan can stand down.
Jackson's idiotic (meant as a compliment) enthusiasm for the idea – cherry blossoms, 'looking sick with a katana', the flashy cars – spilled out in the interview, but all for nothing. So Japan's out, despite the hype. For a moment his co-star Dave Franco even roped in a Now You See Me crossover gag, but that's all just interview banter.
What Is Actually Left?
With Europe and the States previously obliterated (cinematically speaking), the threequel's setting is now hovering somewhere on the world stage—probably Africa, some slice of Asia (excluding Japan), or South America. Worth a mention: the original film ended with Donnie eyeing up a London diamond exchange, but Pantera never paid that off on screen. Whether that gets looped back round is anyone's guess, but nothing concrete yet.
Lionsgate moved fairly quickly after the release of Pantera in 2025, greenlighting development on Den of Thieves 3 just weeks later.
As for when we'll actually see this untitled threequel: fans are mainly hoping the wait won't match the glacial seven-year lag between the first two. Writer-director Christian Gudegast is apparently cracking on with the script, and Jackson's comments suggest they're zeroing in on a new location. But until they drop the official word, start placing your bets on which continent gets the Donnie Wilson treatment next.