Warning! Major spoilers for Den of Thievs 2: Pantera ahead
Christian Gudegast’s action heist movieDen of Thieves 2: Panterahas a conspicuous subtitle, and it provides a reference to the elevated stakes of the international heist at the sequel’s center. Whileit took seven years forDen of Thieves 2: Panterato come together, the second entry in the burgeoning action franchise is much more polished than its predecessor, and the action is driven by a much higher-stakes heist than the Federal Reserve robbery from the originalDen of Thieves. In lieu of the gritty LA setting, the action takes place in the picturesque seaside city of Nice, France.
Inspired by the real-world 2003 Antwerp diamond heist, Donnie and Nick (O’Shea Jackson, Jr. and Gerard Butler) find themselves working together to take down the World Diamond Center in the globe-spanning sequel. The two work with a team of international heist specialists known as The Panthers, whose criminal exploits are so extensive and infamous that there is an international task force committed to stop them.The ending ofDen of Thieves 2: Panterasees the two sides finally meet, with an unexpected twist that was actually teased by the movie’s title.
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What Pantera Means In English
It’s A Referral To The International Nature Of The Heist
The task force designated to hunt down the criminal gang of thieves known as The Panthers operates under the code name Task Force Pantera. The word ‘pantera’, translated to English from Italian, means “panther”. With its roots in Latin and Ancient Greek,the phrase ‘pantera’ can be found in several major languages around the worldwith that same meaning. Sticking with Italian, a ‘pantera’ is what high-speed police cruisers are referred to, another nod to the cops-and-robbers theme of the entire franchise.
January 19th, 2018
$30 million
$80.5 million
41%
63%
January 10th, 2024
$40 million
$11-$13 million opening weekend (projected)
60%
78%
While the World Diamond Center inDen of Thieves 2: Panterais located in Nice, France, that famous seaside city is right on the border of Italy, and the cultural and linguistic crossover is evident both in the movie and in the real world location. Using the Italian language to designate the task forcecould be a nod to the gang of thieves in the 2003 Antwerp diamond heist, all of whom were Italian, in addition to referencing the geographical location. Ultimately, it’s a way to distinguish the border-crossing international heist movie from its smaller-scale, U.S.-based predecessor.
Den Of Thieves 2’s Pantera References The New Crews
A Special Task Force Hunts The Infamous Team Of Robbers
When Nick first makes contact with Task Force Pantera under the guise of his pursuit of Donnie, they have virtually the entire Panthers team, along with their bankroll and mastermind, Slobodan, identified and stuck up on a stereotypical police evidence board. It’s clear that The Panthers have been a nuisance for quite some time, and with Donnie and Nick joining (or appearing to join, in Nick’s case) the criminals, it seemed obvious why the movie’s title would include the word ‘pantera’.It’s a more cinematic and cleaner-sounding way to reference The Panthers, who are the sequel’s literal den of thieves.
The Panthers are loosely based off the real-world gang of thieves who pulled off the Antwerp diamond heist, and who were referred to as “The School of Turin”.
However, the title also winds up teasing who actually comes out on top of the cat-and-mouse game between The Panthers and Task Force Pantera.Nick’s planned betrayal of The Pantherssees the talented group of thieves all taken into custody, despite all believing that they had gotten away cleanly. From that angle, the title beingDen of Thieves 2: Panterais a hint about Gerard Butler’s character Nick: he isn’t actually one of The Panthers, he’s aligned with Task Force Pantera.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Cast
Sheriff “Big Nick” O’Brien tracks Donnie Wilson to Europe after his daring escape. As Donnie becomes deeply involved with diamond thieves and the Panther mafia, the stakes rise with a plan to rob the world’s largest diamond exchange.
