Gerard Butleris no stranger to action movies. Though his first movie was a period piece, playing Archie Brown inMrs. Brown(1997), his career has often included high-octane genre movies. After performing inMrs. Brown, he went on to play a supporting role in the Pierce BrosnanBondmovieTomorrow Never Dies, making his first foray into the action genre. Butler then revisited genre movies the next year with his adventure fantasyTale of the Mummy, which was released in 1998. He would return to them time again throughout his career.
Fast-forward over 20 years, andButler is still regularly involved in action movies. These range from disaster movies, includingGeostorm(2017) andGreenland(2020), to the action thrillersKandahar(2023) andLast Seen Alive(2022). Though he has been in many one-off movies, Butler has also made his way into franchises. This includes the DreamWorks animated franchiseHow to Train Your Dragonand theHas Fallenseries. There is also asequel in development forGreenland. After years of experience, however, Butler’s most recent sequel forced him to face some exceptionally challenging production issues.
The Actor Faced A Tough ACL Injury.
Poised to star inDen of Thieves 2: Pantera, Butler admits that the movie was uniquely difficult for him to film. The follow-up to the 2018 filmDen of Thievescontinues the story of Big Nick, who is desperately trying to stop diamond thieves in Europe.Panterafeatures Butler in the lead rolewith a supporting cast that includes O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Cocaine Bear), Evin Ahmad (Who Is Erin Carter?), Salvatore Esposito (The Immortal), Orli Shuka (Gangs of London), and Nazmiye Oral (Undercover). It was released on January 10 as one of the first major premieres of 2025.
With a $40 million budget,Panterawill likely need $100 million to break even at the box office.
Speaking withEntertainment Weekly, Butler revealed that an unforeseen injury made his time working onPanterafar more difficult. Filming action movies can be difficult enough, but the actor explained thathe had just had surgery before filming and then tore his ACLbefore starting filming. As a result, he “made this movie with a freshly torn ACL.” Co-star Jackson Jr. chimes in that there were “so many stairs in that movie,” which created an additional challenge to the already-physical scenes. Check out the full quotes from Butler and Jackson Jr. below:
Butler:This was a weird time for me at the beginning of this movie because I’d been through a pretty intense surgery, and then I tore my ACL fully about a month later and then started this movie. So I was not in the best shape, and it was a pretty physical movie, and I didn’t have a chance to get the surgery on my ACL, so I made this movie with a freshly torn ACL, and it was pretty rough. But yeah… I wanted to put a ‘but’ in to make it sound positive, but it wasn’t positive; it was a nightmare! And I was a whiny little bitch!
Jackson Jr.: Oh my God, there were so many stairs in that movie too!
Butler:There were so many stairs. I’m like, ‘Really, we have to set this whole movie on a hill?’ So it was intense, but it definitely made the action scenes… I had to do less acting.
Butler Has Faced Severe Medical Challenges Before
The Actor Even Reconsidered Continuing His Career
Moving on a torn ACL is difficult, and the recovery generally requires surgery. Despite the problems that it posed forPantera, it was not Butler’s first time facing major physical issues. After a2017 motorcycle crash left him with numerous broken bones, a pinched nerve, and other injuries, he was at risk of long-term paralysis. The actor eventually recovered, but he did suffer from further surgery and resulting injuries. After the experience, Butler returned to riding his motorcycle and returned to acting.
Grappling with the production on a torn ACL was certainly an unwelcome new territory for him.
Still,Butler nearly quit actingin the aftermath. While speaking to an Australian news outlet, the star admitted that he nearly reconsidered his acting career after struggling to justify his return. He eventually elected to continue, which has led to over 12 released movies and five developing projects since the 2017 incident. Nevertheless, the surgery and torn ACL indicate that some health issues continue to linger over his career, and this may requireButler to slow down on his action performances.
Our Take On Gerard Butler’s Set Experience
His Surgery Likely Caused One Of The Production Delays
This reveal confirms director Christian Gudegast’s recent comments about a main actor with a knee injury were about Butler. It sounds like his surgery may have further delayed production onDen of Thieves: Pantera.The movie had already been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the jointSAG-AFTRA and WGA strikeslikely contributed to its lengthy production schedule. Dealing with a demanding action set is no new task for Butler, but grappling with the production on a torn ACL was certainly an unwelcome new territory for him.
Though it must have been excruciating,Butler maintains a positive attitudethat should serve him well. He and Jackson Jr were joking about the injury and the number of steps and hills in the movie. That proves that he is not dwelling too heavily on the pain of it all. While he is willing to reflect on the short-term impact of his ACL tear, he did not mention any long-term issues associated with it. He is now poised to return in theHow To Train Your Dragonlive-action remake, so he is still proudly acting even now.
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.
