Lionsgate’s Den of Thieves 2 debuted at the top of the box office, earning $15.5 million despite a slow moviegoing weekend.
January is usually a slow month for films, and it didn’t help that about ten theaters in LA were closed. This sequel to the 2018 heist flick performed just about as well as the first one, which opened with $15.2 million back in the day. O’Shea Jackson Jr. is back in this one, and it hit 3,008 theaters across North America.
Gerard Butler seems to be making a habit of January releases. His last film, “Plane,” did pretty well too, making $32.1 million after its debut last year. “Den of Thieves 2” had a bigger budget of around $40 million, and while audiences gave it a decent “B+” CinemaScore, critics weren’t too impressed, with a 58% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, it marked Lionsgate’s first No. 1 opening since “The Hunger Games” prequel last November.
Also trying to make a splash this weekend was the Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man.” Instead of the usual human portrayal, they went for a CGI chimpanzee to play the pop star. It didn’t do so hot, only pulling in $1.1 million from 1,291 theaters. Reviews were good, but it just didn’t catch on like his previous films.
Meanwhile, “The Last Showgirl,” featuring Pamela Anderson, did better, earning $1.5 million after expanding to 870 theaters. And Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” which just won best drama at the Golden Globes, made $1.4 million from just 68 locations.
Most of the weekend’s earnings came from films that have been out for a while, like “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which added $13.2 million to its total, now sitting at $539.7 million worldwide. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” also did well, bringing in $11 million. Other films like “Nosferatu” and “Moana 2” continued to perform strongly too.
Final numbers will be out Monday, but for now, here’s how the top ten looks for ticket sales from Friday to Sunday:
