Have you ever heard of a “drop the remote” movie? It implies that a particular movie is so good, if you should encounter it while channel surfing – no matter what part the film happens to be on – you are going to drop the remote and watch it all the way ‘til the end. Usually, “drop the remote” movies tend to be comedies, which explains why Christopher Nolan named some top Will Ferrell comedies as his “drop the remote” choices. Other times, it’s guilty-pleasure action movies, ones that allow us to turn off our brains and just enjoy explosions, adrenaline, and fun.
The first Den of Thieves qualified as a “drop the remote” movie for a lot of people as it screened on cable. The heist thriller, starring Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr., didn’t thrill critics, and had a meager box-office performance. But audiences found it eventually, and really loved it. Heck, The Rewatchables basically claimed it as one of their own, boosting the movie’s profile through their podcast. This proved valuable when Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera recently opened. Our own Eric Eisenberg didn’t love it, but the movie made enough to lead the box office.
A new “drop the remote” movie might have been born.
While speaking with Gerard Butler on behalf of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, I asked the London Has Fallen actor if he had any movies that had that effect on him. Specifically, were there any action movies he could think of that, when they came on, he threw down the remote and watched to the end. And he came up with the best possible answer. Said Butler:
Does the action movie (that one) have this effect on me? Oh my god. Action movie. . . I mean, dare I say: Die Hard. Die Hard did that. It’s a classic. Fun. Implicit. Or any of my others, there are 6,000. (laughs)
Gerard Butler does not exaggerate. Whether it’s Three Hundred or Greenland, the actor has many action films under his belt. But he wisely deferred to Bruce Willis’s most productive action film of all time: the original Die Hard. A Christmas movie? Who cares? No matter the time of year, we get to watch John McClane (Willis) methodically make his way through a skyscraper filled with terrorists. There’s a reason Samuel L. Jackson told an interviewer that Die Hard with a Vengeance had a bigger impact on his career than Pulp Fiction. Die Hard is huge. It’s global. It’s very hard!
One of the elements of the “Let Go of the Remote” movie tends to be the creation of a franchise, and Butler hopes that will be the case with Den Of Thieves. The sequel did not set the box office on fire. But the actor and his co-star, O’Shea Jackson Jr. , already have cast members in mind if they need to complete the cast and direct Den of Thieves 3. Unfortunately, it can’t be Bruce Willis, because he did. retiree. But you know that the spirit of John McClane will permeate each and every resolution made regarding the Den of Thieves franchise, as long as Gerard Butler is at the helm.
Sean O’Connell is a journalist and editor-in-chief of CinemaBlend. On the site since 2011, Sean has interviewed a host of directors, actors and makers and created ReelBlend, which he proudly hosts alongside Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. . And he’s responsible for LAUNCHING SNYDER’S CUT, the POWER-POWERED Spider-Man short story e-book, and an upcoming e-book about Bruce Willis.
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