Weekend Box Office: DEN OF THIEVES 2 Steals #1 From Holdovers

Gerard Butler as 'Big Nick' O'Brien and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson in Den of Thieves 2: Panthera. Photo Credit: Rico Torres.

1. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Lionsgate | NEW
$15.5M Domestic Opening Weekend

The Lion King was taken down by Lionsgate’s “panther” as Den of Thieves 2: Pantera gave the studio its first #1 since November 2023’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The 7-years-later action heist sequel took an estimated $15.5M on 3,008 screens for a per-screen average of $5,153. That’s nearly identical to the $15.2M the 2018 original opened to this same timeframe, although that was only in 2,432 locations with a higher PSA (a sign of the times as many recent sequels have not shown growth parallel to inflation).

Here’s how the 3-Day looked…

  • Friday – $5.85M
  • Saturday – $5.85M
  • Sunday – $3.8M

Besides the typical January box office doldrums, external factors like winter weather in Texas and catastrophic fires ravaging California, so weekend attendance was down over 20% compared to the MLK frame last year when debuts of Mean Girls ($28.6M) and The Beekeeper ($16.5M) topped the charts. Still, this is a win for the beleaguered studio (who inherited the Thieves franchise from STX) and 55-year-old star Gerard Butler, who hasn’t had a #1 movie since August 2019’s Angel Has Fallen ($21.3M).

While critical was 58% on Rotten Tomatoes (above the original’s 41%), CinemaScore was a “B+,” and Rotten Tomatoes audience score was 78%, indicating overall approval. PostTrak had audience reactions at 3 & 1/2 stars and 72% positive, with 64% men attending. Most of those males were older, with 79% of ticket buyers coming in over age 25.

Other Notable Performances

Even though it slid back to the #2 spot with $13.2M (-44% drop), Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King has now passed the $500M mark with $539.7M globally. Meanwhile, its family rival Sonic the Hedgehog 3 came in third with $11M, enough to slide it past the $200M landmark domestically with $204.5M. Universal’s Wicked (#7, $5M) is now within striking distance of the $700M mark with a $697.6M global total.

Roadside Attractions’ The Last Showgirl, starring an awards-buzzy Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis, opened wide after an Academy qualifier in December with $1.5M in 807 locations to place at #10. Both actresses received Screen Actors Guild nods this week.

Paramount’s unconventional rock star biopic Better Man expanded from the six screens of its last two frames into 1,291 locations, where it grossed an estimated $1.05M for a $813 PSA. Disinterest in the film -in which singer Robbie Williams is depicted as a CGI monkey–also extends overseas, where the movie has already collected $7.7M

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates
Weekend 2 – 2025
Total 3-Day Domestic Estimates:
$76,386,331M | (-21.4% vs 2024)

Title Weekend Estimate % Change Locations Location Change PSA Domestic Total Week Distributor
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera $15,500,000   3,008   $5,153 $15,500,000 1 Lionsgate
Mufasa: The Lion King $13,200,000 -44% 3,620 -305 $3,646 $188,777,479 4 Walt Disney
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 $11,000,000 -48% $3,582 -164 $3,071 $204,515,000 4 Paramount Pi…
Nosferatu $6,800,000 -48% $3,082 -50 $2,206 $81,807,000 3 Focus Features
Moana 2 $6,500,000 -48% $3,170 -175 $2,050 $434,855,208 7 Walt Disney
A Complete Unknown $5,000,000 -39% $2,815 -20 $1,776 $50,847,682 3 Searchlight …
Wicked $5,000,000 -50% 2,967 -320 $1,685 $458,900,000 8 Universal
Babygirl $3,098,318 -31% 1,887 -277 $1,642 $21,738,200 3 A24
The Brutalist $1,387,740 468% 68 60 $20,408 $2,742,117 4 A24
Gladiator II $1,200,000 -54% 1,329 -419 $903 $170,989,000 8 Paramount Pi…
Homestead $1,089,540 -46% 1,500 -200 $726 $19,263,120 4 Angel Studios
Better Man $1,050,000 +3,924 1,291 +1,285 $813 $1,153,000 3 Paramount Pi…
Kraven the Hunter $345,000 -67% 1,004 -858 $344 $24,439,000 5 Sony Pictures
The Fire Inside $307,998 -74% 1,022 -1,010 $301 $7,861,083 3 Amazon MGM S…
Flow $303,400 42% 247 120 $1,228 $3,008,224 8 Janus Films
The Damned $186,000 -76% 563 -169 $330 $1,254,633 2 Vertical Ent…
Hard Truths $165,625   22   $7,528 $165,625 6 Bleecker Street
A Real Pain $118,000 2% 70 -35 $1,686 $8,028,862 11 Searchlight …
Nickel Boys $112,219 -23% 26 8 $4,316 $578,297 5 Amazon MGM S…
The Count of Monte Cristo $105,000 -44% 93 n/c $1,129 $445,235 4 Samuel Goldw…
Anora $90,000 -41% 111 6 $811 $14,554,317 13 Neon
Conclave $60,000 -12% 68 12 $882 $31,504,000 12 Focus Features
September 5 $60,000 n/c 20 7 $3,000 $374,000 5 Paramount Pi…
All We Imagine as Light $52,600 -25% 51 7 $1,031 $843,861 9 Janus Films
The Seed of the Sacred Fig $31,000 -34% 19 -1 $1,632 $363,442 7 Neon
Vermiglio $29,700 100% 19 16 $1,563 $69,691 3 Janus Films
The Wild Robot $16,000 -47% 104 -8 $154 $143,257,000 16 Universal
Gerard Butler as 'Big Nick' O'Brien and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson in Den of Thieves 2: Panthera. Photo Credit: Rico Torres.

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