The launch trailer for "Den of Thieves" gives first look at Gerard Butler as a tough cop from Los Angeles.

The two-minute action-packed trailer, soundtracked by Kendrick Lamar's "m.A.A.d. City," creates a blurred line between villains and heroes.

"You are not the bad guys, we are," says Nick Flanagan (Butler), who is an unorthodox officer described in the trailer as the "original gangster cop in the flesh" who will stop at nothing to do his job, even perhaps breaking a few laws in the process. He is the head of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department who has busted every big-time crew in the California city.

Pablo Schreiber ("American Gods") and his crew O'Shea Jackson Jr. ("Straight Outta Compton") and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson are planning the heist of the century ­— a robbery on downtown L.A.'s Federal Reserve, a bank that has never been robbed.

The crew wants part of the $500 to $800 billion regularly stored in the facility, despite knowing that every corner is monitored by cameras, sensors and motion detectors.

"Every cop in the country will be looking for us," says Schreiber in the trailer. Well, not exactly, just L.A.'s elite team.

Fast cars, big weapons and crazy shootouts await viewers in this crime thriller.

For Butler fans, this movie means a lot to the actor, following the low reviews for his latest science-fiction disaster film "Geostorm," which was described by The Guardian as a "washout." Deadline earlier reported that the film, which took three years and an estimated $120 million budget to make, opened at a measly $13.3 million in domestic box-office.

"Den of Thieves" is produced by Tucker Tooley, who developed the project for over 10 years, together with Butler, Mark Canton and Alan Siegel. It is helmed by first-time director Christian Gudegast, who wrote the screenplay for Butler's 2016 box-office hit "London Has Fallen."

It will come to cinemas on Jan. 19, 2018.