Why not ring in the New Year with an action-packed, edge-of-your-seat thriller starring cinema's baddest boy Gerard Butler? Today, we have a first look at The Vanishing, which continues Butler's hot streak of over-the-top nonsense that goes beyond bad and becomes simply irresistible.

The Vanishing isn't just some throwaway VOD thriller. No way. Not with Gerard Butler at the forefront, doing what he does best with a grimace and a couple of swinging meathooks he calls fists. The man is quickly becoming the king of so bad it's good, and he's usurping Nicolas Cage at his own game. When you throw a bit of quality in the mix, these movies become must-sees. And The Vanishing has must see written all over it.

Gerard Butler (Hunter Killer) and Peter Mullan (Ozark) star in this tense, action-packed thriller based on true events. After three lighthouse keepers arrive for work on a remote Scottish isle, they make a fateful discovery: a wrecked rowboat, with a chest full of gold. As a mysterious boat heads toward the island, the three men make a choice that will change their lives forever, ensnaring them in a web of greed, paranoia, and murder.

The Vanishing could very well be the first movie you see in theaters next year, as it arrives just a few days after the holidays on January 4. It will be playing on the big screen, while simultaneously getting an ON Demand release that same day. Kristoffer Nyholm is directing all the action and thrills, working from a script by none other than Joe Bone and his writing partner Celyn Jones. They make for quite a trio who promise to deliver a tight 106 minute package that has already been rated R. So you can expect a ton of violence and some very salty language. Which should go very nice with the lighthouse setting.

Gerard Butler was once poised to be Hollywood's next big leading man, buy he decided to go his own way, and has been thrilling audiences and winning fans ever since, with his Olympus Has Fallen trilogy really lighting the torch. Angel Has fallen, the third, though perhaps not the last, installment will arrive later in 2019. He's also lending his voice to How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World later next year, reprising his role as Stoick. He's also set to appear in All-Star Weekend, and he's solidified his second ongoing action franchise with Den of Thieves 2. He was most recently seen in the submarine thriller Hunter Killer, which launched in the last half of 2018.

The Vanishing will kick the year off right for Gerard Butler, who has so much cool stuff to look forward to in the coming months. We have the first trailer for The Vanishing, which comes direct from Lionsgate, along with the first poster which shows off Gerard Butler and Peter Cullan and their doomed lighthouse.