Lionsgate finally has a box office win….

Gerard Butler and Lionsgate achieved a notable success as ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’ led the domestic box office on its opening weekend, reaching an impressive $15.5 million.

Produced by Tucker Tooley, the project secured the top position for a Lionsgate film for the first time in several months, matching the performance of its predecessor, ‘Den of Thieves,’ which was released by STX in 2018.

Despite the severe fires in the greater Los Angeles area, movie attendance hasn’t shown significant disruption, according to sources from studio distribution. They noted that a more detailed analysis would be available by the end of the weekend. Although a few locations like AMC Universal Citywalk and AMC Americana Glendale experienced declines, Los Angeles theaters still topped the revenue charts until at least Saturday. By Friday, only four smaller venues in the Altadena-Pasadena area had shut down.

A significant underperformer was the Robbie Williams biopic ‘Better Man,’ which only managed $1.1 million as it expanded to 1,291 theaters from an initial six since its Christmas Day debut. Despite costing over $100 million and receiving favorable reviews and audience reactions, the film struggled to attract a broader audience, particularly with its choice to depict the British singer as a CGI monkey.

In other realms, ‘The Brutalist,’ fresh off its Golden Globes success, did exceedingly well, expanding to 68 theaters and bringing in $1.4 million, thus averaging $20,408 per theater.

‘The Last Showgirl,’ directed by Gia Coppola and starring Pamela Anderson, also had a strong showing, placing just ahead in 11th place with $1.5 million as it began its broader release in 870 theaters after a limited run aimed at awards qualification.

Disney’s ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ maintained second place, earning $13.2 million, bringing its global earnings to over $540 million. Disney’s ‘Moana 2’ held fifth place, nearing the billion-dollar mark with total earnings of $989.8 million worldwide after this weekend’s $6.5 million domestic haul.

‘Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ celebrated surpassing $200 million domestically and $394 million globally, with a significant portion from overseas markets. It ranked third in North America this weekend.

‘Nosferatu’ from Focus Features, continued its successful run, now totaling $81.8 million domestically and $135.8 million globally.

Searchlight’s ‘A Complete Unknown’ found itself in sixth place, crossing the $50 million domestic threshold following significant SAG nominations. The biopic about Bob Dylan, featuring Timothée Chalamet, received four SAG nominations, the second most for any film this season, only trailing behind Universal’s hit musical ‘Wicked,’ which has nearly reached $700 million globally.

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