Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera Matches Its Predecessor’s Opening At The Box Office, But One-Ups It By Winning The Weekend

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Over the past weekend, there weren’t many new movies released in Hollywood. Barry Jenkins’ “Mufasa: The Lion King”, Jeff Fowler’s “Sonic The Hedgehog 3” and Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu” continued their success from late December, and no fresh challengers emerged for them during the first weekend of the year. However, it seems like we are now kicking off the 2025 box office with Christian Gudegast’s “Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera“, which is currently leading the domestic box office charts.

After several years since its original release, it’s clear that there is indeed a fan base eager for more from the flourishing heist series, as the sequel has proven at the box office. For those interested, here’s the complete domestic top 10 list. Let’s delve into an analysis together afterwards.

Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera Wins The Weekend With Numbers Similar To The 2018 Movie

Back in early 2018, Christian Gudegast’s movie “Den Of Thieves” premiered and didn’t make a significant impact initially. The film opened at the third spot, with “Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle,” directed by Jake Kasdan, still dominating its fifth week in cinemas, earning more than Nicolai Fuglsig’s “12 Strong” starring Chris Hemsworth. At the time, a $15.2 million opening was rather underwhelming, but in 2025, if the sequel manages to gross only slightly more than that amount within its first three days, it will claim the box office title.

On Friday, I was thrilled to find myself at the cinema watching “Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera,” the only fresh release. As it turns out, the fanbase that the first film garnered after its streaming debut seems to have translated into this sequel claiming the title of “#1 Movie in America.” Now, it didn’t exactly trounce its competitors, and a debut of $15.5 million makes “blockbuster” feel like an overstatement, but there wasn’t another movie that outperformed it during the last three days at the box office. In fact, it opened with more money than Bryce McGuire’s “Night Swim” did around this same time last year.

As a fan excited about the upcoming sequel, it’s important to acknowledge that while “Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera” had a strong foundation with a production budget of $40 million, it still needs to prove its financial success. The initial investment didn’t stop there, as another $20 million was spent on marketing and promotion. To put things in perspective, the original “Den Of Thieves” managed to earn $80.1 million globally during its theatrical run in 2018. Now, it’s up to the sequel to build upon that success and demonstrate its own box office legs.

Is there enough excitement surrounding the 2025 feature to make it successful? It seems that opinions are divided on this matter. While professional critics have had mixed reactions, some appreciating its entertainment factor but not necessarily considering it a highly intelligent heist thriller, others find it worthy of a “B+” grade, as indicated by CinemaScore surveys – the same rating achieved by the initial film.

Besides word-of-mouth possibly sparking curiosity in week two, another key factor contributing to the lasting success of Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera is increased competition – and the year 2025 becomes notably more competitive starting from Friday. Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man (his second Universal Classic Monsters project following 2020’s The Invisible Man) aims to attract the same audience demographics as this action-thriller, and there is also lighter content coming up with Lawrence Lamont’s One Of Them Days starring Keke Palmer and SZA. It might prove challenging for Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s film to maintain its relevance beyond this weekend, given the influx of new releases.

Mufasa: The Lion King, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 And Nosferatu Hang On In The Top 5

The debut of “Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera” has caused a shift in focus from the competition between “Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic The Hedgehog 3” at the box office, but their fierce battle rages on as these titles become more deeply entrenched within the Top 10. Both movies saw weekend-to-weekend drops below 50% and are steadily climbing in the domestic and worldwide rankings for 2024.

As a movie enthusiast, let me share my thoughts on Sonic The Hedgehog 3. Despite slotting into third position, this flick is still giving its direct competition from mid-December a run for their money – and that’s all thanks to an impressive debut! In the United States and Canada alone, it raked in an additional $11 million, bringing its domestic earnings to over $200 million. That places Sonic The Hedgehog 3 as the ninth highest-grossing film of 2024, surpassing the box office total of Adam Wingard’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ($196.4 million).

Globally, the sequel of the video game adaptation has earned approximately $384.8 million, placing it in eighteenth position among worldwide box office earnings for 2024. However, it still lags significantly behind the success of The Lion King prequel. To date, The Lion King prequel has only grossed around $188.8 million domestically, but its global total stands at a substantial $539.7 million.

In contrast to the family-friendly movies that are raking in big bucks, the classic horror film “Nosferatu” isn’t seeing similar success, but given its smaller status, it’s performing remarkably well. Its recent domestic earnings of $6.8 million over three days mean it has now amassed a total of $81.8 million in the U.S. and Canada. Globally, its ticket sales stand at $135.8 million. The film had a robust opening in cinemas on Christmas, and since then, it’s been consistently earning decent returns.

As we move forward, expect a significant boost in the Top 10 next week with the debut of two fresh wide releases and more screenings for some potential Oscar winners, increasing their theater numbers. I’ll be here again on TopMob next Sunday to share the results and insights in my latest box office report. In the interim, feel free to plan your movie-going schedule for the coming weeks/months with our 2025 Movie Release Calendar.

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2025-01-12 23:37