Gerard Butler's New Action Movie Is Just The Start To What Should Be An Incredible 2025 For Him

Gerard Butler is poised to have a huge 2025, and Den of Thieves 2 gives him a strong start at the box office. The actor has a solid track record of being in movies that do well at the box office across a variety of genres. However, action movies and franchises have been the most consistent performers for him throughout his career. That includes his successes with the animated How To Train Your Dragon trilogy and his Has Fallen trilogy of action films. 2018's Den of Thieves proved once more that he's a bankable action lead as it made $80 million worldwide.

It's somewhat expected that new Gerard Butler action movies will do well at the box office. In the last few years, he's continued to find success with his Has Fallen and How To Train Your Dragon films. He's also launched new properties like Greenland and Plane and seen them each do solid business. Now that he's back in theaters with Den of Thieves 2, Butler is once again finding some success at the box office. That's a great sign for him, as the action sequel is only the beginning of what should be a lucrative year for him.

Den Of Thieves 2 Has Already Given Gerard Butler A Hit Film Early In 2025

Den Of Thieves 2 Opened At #1 At The Box Office

With seven years passing between the first film and the sequel, there was some uncertainty about how Den of Thieves 2's box office would shake out. Butler's action sequel quickly helped to put those worries to rest by being the #1 movie at the box office during its opening weekend. Den of Thieves 2 had a $15 million opening weekend, just slightly below the original film. Heading into the second weekend where it battles Wolf Man and One of Them Days at the box office to stay atop the charts, the movie's worldwide total is $23.7 million (via The Numbers).

That is not a massive total right now, but it does set up Den of Thieves 2 to be a box office success, most likely. It should continue to have solid legs at the domestic box office and finish near the original film's $44 million total locally. The real question is whether it will pick up more stream internationally thanks to its international cast and setting. With a reported $40 million budget, Den of Thieves 2 needs to make around $100 million to break even at the box office. That's doable if audiences keep checking out the sequel.

Gerard Butler Has Two More Exciting Movies Coming In 2025 That Should Do Well Financially

He Stars In Two More Franchise Films This Year

Den of Thieves 2 is not the only franchise film that Gerard Butler is doing in 2025, though, as he's returning for Greenland: Migration and the live-action How To Train Your Dragon remake. There's a good chance that both of these movies prove to be box office hits for the actor too.

Greenland: Migration is a sequel to 2020's Greenland, which got a theatrical release internationally but went to digital and streaming only domestically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The original film still managed to make $40 million in other countries. The movie also reportedly made $32 million in PVOD sales (via IndieWire), pointing to the level of interest in the Butler-led disaster film. That should be a good sign for Greenland: Migration's box office performance when it hits theaters sometime this year.

The biggest of Gerard Butler's 2025 movies is sure to be Universal and DreamWorks' live-action How To Train Your Dragon. Butler's return as Stoick is justified and exciting after voicing him in the animated movies. The original animated films combined to make $1.6 billion at the box office. Disney's live-action remakes have proven how these types of reimaginings can dominate the box office. 2025's How To Train Your Dragon should make well over $500 million unless something goes horribly wrong with its release. There's even a chance it will be a $1 billion hit if everything goes right.

Gerard Butler's 2025 Movies Will Help Him Cross A Major Box Office Milestone

Butler Is Just Shy Of A Career Milestone

Thanks to the trio of franchise films Gerad Butler is in this year, he will undoubtedly cross a huge box office milestone. The total gross of his films currently is at $4.8 billion worldwide. Gerard Butler's total career box office will pass $5 billion this year thanks to Den of Thieves 2, Greenland: Migration, and How To Train Your Dragon. In reality, he would surely achieve this milestone off the performance of How To Train Your Dragon alone.

Once he breaks past the $5 billion milestone, that will move him into the top 75 of the highest-grossing actors in history, according to The Numbers. If How To Train Your Dragon is a $1 billion+ earner, there's even a chance that Butler will surpass the $6 billion milestone and possibly climb into the top 50. Now Gerard Butler just has to wait and see how well his 2025 movies do at the box office to see which of these milestones he actually crosses.