After logging years in development hell, writer/director Christian Gudegast must be feeling fairly happy right now. He’s finally locked down a leading man for his heist thriller Den Of Thieves, with Gerard Butler set to star as a master criminal caught in a tricky situation.
Gudegast will be relieved that he’s actually reached this stage, since he originally co-wrote the heist script with Paul Scheuring back in 1998 and watched it tumble through a void of meetings, drafts and decisions. At one point, Peter Berg appeared set to direct it, but moved on to other things. Then, in 2008, Gudegast was handed the chance to call the shots himself.
He has Butler on to play the thief figuring out his most audacious robbery yet, taking down the Federal Reserve in Los Angeles under the nose of a corrupt sheriff’s deputy. The plan becomes even more complicated when he’s caught between two groups of criminals. Relativity is backing this one and has brought the project to Cannes to sell international rights.
There’s no mention of when Gudegast might actually have the cameras rolling, and Butler’s schedule is fairly busy. He’s already dropped out of the Point Break remake because of a clash with Olympus Has Fallen sequel London Has Fallen. Yet we’re betting Gudegast might be happy to hold off if need be – he’s waited this long, after all…