After a dour first weekend of the new year, the domestic box office was injected with new blood on Friday. Lionsgate is finally catching a break aftera dismal 2024, withDen of Thieves 2: Panterapoised to debut at the number one spot. This would make it the studio’s first number one debut since 2023’sThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. StarringGerard Butler,Den of Thieves 2serves as a sequel to the surprise hit 2018 original, which grossed around $80 million worldwide on a reported budget of $30 million.
The movie presumably did well enough on home video to warrant a sequel. Also directed by the first film’sChristian Gudegast,Den of Thieves 2cost a reported $40 million to produce. It’s eyeing under $15 million for the weekend, after generating around $6 million on Friday. This includes the $1 million-plus that it earned via Thursday previews. By comparison, the firstDen of Thievesmade roughly the same amount on opening day as well. Thesequel has earned mixedreviews; it currently holds a borderline “fresh” 60% approval rating on the aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, compared to the first film’s 41% score.
Slipping to number two after finally claiming the top spot in its third weekend, Disney’sMufasa: The Lion Kinggenerated a little under $3 million on Friday, and is eyeing around $13 million for the weekend. The big-budget film isinching closer to the $200 million mark domestically, and recentlyhit the $500 million mark worldwide. It’s still trailingJon Favreau’s 2019The Lion Kingby a huge margin. That film concluded its run with $1.6 billion worldwide.
Not Many Were Entertained by the Robbie Williams Biopic ‘Better Man’
The number three spot was claimed by Paramount’sSonic the Hedgehog 3, which recently overtook its predecessor to become the top-grossing film of the trilogy, and the second-biggest video game adaptation of all time. The movie is looking to generate around $9 million this weekend after grossing around $2 million on Friday. Thisshould finally take it past the $200 million mark domestically. Paramount also debuted the inventive music biopicBetter Man, about the life and career ofRobbie Williams, but the movie was a non-starter. It’s expected to gross just $1 million in its first weekend of wide release.
The fourth and fifth spots went to holdover hitsNosferatuandA Complete Unknown. DirectorRobert Eggers' hit recently overtookLonglegsto become the third-biggest horror movie of 2024. It’s expected to gross around $7 million this weekend, pushing itsrunning domestic total past the $80 million mark. TheBob Dylanbiopic vastly out-performedBetter Manon its 17th day of release, grossing $1.3 million and taking its domestic total past the $45 million mark.Moana 2, on the other hand, grossed $1 million on its seventh Friday, and will likely generate around $5 million for the weekend, taking its running domestic total past the $430 million milestone.
Stay tuned to Collider for more box office updates.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
In the thrilling sequel, Big Nick pursues Donnie across Europe, entangled in the perilous realm of diamond thieves and the notorious Panther mafia. As tensions rise, they confront the formidable challenges of a colossal heist targeting the world’s largest diamond exchange, setting off an intense battle of wits and resources.
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