Gerard Butler's Beloved Crime Thriller With A Cult Following Is Streaming For Free

Gerard Butler deserves more recognition for being a stellar action star. Tom Cruise may do a lot of his own stunts, and Keanu Reeves may have mastered gun-fu, but Butler consistently delivers charismatic performances in entertaining popcorn flicks. Case in point: 2018's "Den of Thieves" could have been a forgettable outing, but it's become a legitimate crime thriller cult classic that you can now see in all its glory on Tubi. 

"Den of Thieves" follows Detective Nick O'Brien (Butler) leading a division of the Los Angeles Police Department to stop a team of former Marines from robbing the Federal Reserve. It sounds like a standard crime caper, and critics largely took it that way, with the film only having a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. General viewers were kinder: It has a 63% audience score on the same platform, which goes some way to explaining why it made a respectable $80 million at the box office. That may not sound like much, but it had a reported budget of only $30 million. That was good enough for it to get a sequel, 2025's "Den of Thieves: Pantera." Despite getting better reviews than its predecessor, it ultimately made less in its theatrical run, tapping out at $58 million.

"Den of Thieves" borrows a lot from "Heat," one of the best heist movies ever made. But it certainly has its own merits, and seeing as it's available to watch completely for free on Tubi, you owe it to yourself to see why Butler's highly underrated. 

"Den of Thieves: Pantera" may have made less money than the first film (with a higher budget at $40 million), but Lionsgate clearly believes in this franchise. Shortly after "Pantera" came out in January 2025, the news broke that "Den of Thieves 3" was in active development. And fans of the franchise don't have to worry about such a long break between "Pantera" and the third installment, as director Christian Gudegast told The Hollywood Reporter that the third film is "already pitched. It's already done. We're ready to go. We're feeling very good about it"

No doubt Gudegast and his team want to strike while the iron's hot, as the "Pantera" production faced one setback after another. Naturally, there were COVID-19 lockdowns that impeded progress, but that was only the beginning. Gerard Butler suffered an injury that delayed filming even more, and Gudegast further explained to THR, "We were probably going to go shoot it in Croatia and Serbia. But then the war with Ukraine hit, and we had to move out of that zone because everyone from the Ukraine went down to where we were going to shoot it."

With "Den of Thieves" easily accessible on Tubi, there are more chances for it to build out its fanbase, who could turn out in greater droves for a threequel. And it doesn't have to end there. "Den of Thieves" is clearly setting itself up to be a grimier "Fast and Furious"-type franchise, and there are plenty more globe-trotting adventures to be had beyond a third story. To keep you busy until the next entry comes out, there are plenty of movies like "Den of Thieves," from "The Italian Job" to "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," that you can also watch on Tubi.