With “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” (Lionsgate), Gerard Butler displayed his bona fides as one of the most reliable draws for action releases. Opening at #1 with $15.5 million, it came in a little ahead of projections and led #2 “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Disney).
A routine sequel exceeding expectations is good news early in the year. It slightly improved on the original’s January 2018 opening (at perhaps 20 percent lower ticket prices). The first one had enough word of mouth to triple its first weekend and gross $45 million; the $40 million sequel has a chance to repeat that.
That said, the 2018 film was #3 for its weekend. Last year, this weekend had two debuts — “Mean Girls” and “The Beekeeper” — both of which grossed more than “Pantera.”
The calendar is a significant factor. In many years, including 2023, the second weekend in January is ahead of the Martin Luther King Birthday, a four-day holiday that encourages the first wave of major releases (as it does next week, led by “Wolf Man” from Universal).
Next weekend also coincides with the Oscar nominations. Originally set for January 17 and now delayed to January 19 due to the horrific and ongoing Los Angeles fires, it also disrupts the plans of many distributors who want to capitalize on hoped-for nods. Several contenders already expanded this week. As expected, the best results are from “The Brutalist” (A24), which just missed the top 10 in only 66 theaters. It grossed nearly $1.4 million, per theater over $20,000.
At about $77 million, the weekend is down 23 percent from last year but strong holiday holdovers mean 2025 is 22 percent over 2024. Apart from “Musafa,” these include “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (Paramount) #3 with $11 million, “Nosferatu” (Focus) fourth with $6.8 million, and “Moana 2” (Disney) #5 adding another $6.5 million. The late-year output was strong across the board, with #7 “Wicked” (Universal) and “Moana 2” over $400 million. That makes up for a lot of weakness among new releases.
“Nosferatu” (now at a surprising $81 million) dropped 48 percent, a decent hold for a horror title in its third weekend. Two other high-end December 25 releases held better. #6 “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight) did $5 million, off 39 percent, $50 million so far. “#8 “Babygirl” (A24) fell only 31 percent, $3.1 million and $21.7 million total.
New this week and in the top 10 are #9 “Game Changer” (Shloka), a Telugu-language Indian film with $1.9 million in 800 theaters, and “The Last Showgirl” (Roadside Attractions) 10th with $1,533,000 in 870. The latter opened right after Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis scored SAG nominations, a boost for the under-$2 million budgeted drama. It is one of the films hoping to get an Oscars boost.
Multiple other films positioned themselves this weekend to ride the awards wave. Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” (Bleecker Street), with Marianne Jean-Baptiste a rare triple best actress winner from the New York/Los Angeles/National Society of Film Critics, had a modest start with $166,000 in 22 theaters. “Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM), which could see a significant boost ahead, went to 26 theaters.
Two Paramount platform releases had weak expansions. “September 5” did $60,000 in 20. “Better Man” managed only $1.05 million in 1,587. Pedro Almodovar’s “The Room Next Door” reported $256,000 in its first wide expansion. “Flow” (Janus/Sideshow), getting major awards attention, added $303,000 with doubling its theaters and is now over $3 million.
Despite the fires in Los Angeles, “Extremely Unique Dynamic” (Strand) opened to a startling $37,000 at the Laemmle NoHo 7, not a standard platform location. With tremendous grassroots and inventive marketing targeting Asian-American and gay audiences, the self-described microbudget Meta-Asian-stoner-coming of age-bromantic dramedy about two friends trying to make a movie clicked. It’s the theater’s best-ever weekend gross.
1. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (Lionsgate) Cinemascore: B+; Metacritic: 59; Est. budget: $40 million
$15,500,000 in 3,003 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $5,153; Cumulative: $15,500,000
2. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) Week 4; Last weekend #1
$13,200,000 (-44%) in 3,620 (-305) theaters; PTA: $3,646; Cumulative: $188,777,000
3. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Paramount) Week 4; Last weekend #2
$11,000,000 (-48%) in 3,582 (-164) theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $204,515,000
4. Nosferatu (Focus) Week 3; Last weekend #3
$6,800,000 (-48%) in 3,082 (-50) theaters; PTA: $2,206; Cumulative: $81,807,000
5. Moana 2 (Disney) Week 7; Last weekend #4
$6,500,000 (-48%) in 3,170 (-175) theaters; PTA: $2,050; Cumulative: $434,855,000
6. A Complete Unknown (Searchlight) Week 3; Last weekend #6
$5,000,000 (-39%) in 2,815 (-20) theaters; PTA: $1,776; Cumulative: $50,848,000
7. Wicked (Universal) Week 7; Last weekend #5; also on PVOD
$5,000,000 (-50%) in 2,967 (-120) theaters; PTA: $1,685; Cumulative: $458,900,000
8. Babygirl (A24) Week 3; Last weekend #7
$3,098,000 (-31%) in 1,887 (-277) theaters; PTA: $1,642; Cumulative: $21,738,000
9. Game Changer (Shloka) NEW – Est. budget: $5 million
$1,895,000 in 800 theaters; PTA: $2,394; Cumulative: $1,895,000
10. The Last Showgirl (Roadside Attractions) NEW – Metacritic: 66; Est. budget: $2,000,000
$1,533,000 in 870 theaters; PTA: $1,762; Cumulative: $1,533,000
‘Hard Truths’
Films (limited, expansions of limited) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed. Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded when available.
OPENING (platform)
Hard Truths (Bleecker Street) NEW – Metacritic: 88; Festivals include: Toronto, New York 2024
$165,625 in 22 theaters; PTA: $7,528
Extremely Unique Dynamic (Strand) NEW – Festivals include: Sonoma 2024
$37,000 in 1 theater; PTA: $37,000
Hazard (Emphatic/RBL) NEW – Festivals include: Woodstock 2024
$27,600 in 24 theaters; PTA: $1,150
HOLDOVERS
The Damned (Vertical) Week 2
$186,000 in 563 (-169) theaters; PTA: $330; Cumulative: $1,255,000
The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM) Week 3
$307,998 in 1,010 (-1,022) theaters; PTA: $301; Cumulative: $7,861,000
Better Man (Paramount) Week 3
$1,050,000 in 1,587 (+1,581) theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $1,150,000
Vermiglio (Sideshow/Janus) Week 3
$29,700 in 19 (+16) theaters; PTA: $1,563; Cumulative: $69,691
The Brutalist (A24) Week 4
$1,388,000 in 66 (+58) theaters; PTA: $20,408; Cumulative: $2,742,000
The Room Next Door (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 4
$255,985 in 44 (+38) theaters; Cumulative: $598,714
The Count of Monte Cristo (Goldwyn) Week 4
$105,000 in 93(no change) theaters; Cumulative: $445,325
Nickel Boys (MGM Amazon) Week 5
$112,219 in 26 (+8) theaters; Cumulative: $578,297
September 5 (Paramount) Week 5
$60,000 in 20 (+7) theaters; Cumulative: $374,000
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Neon) Week 7
$31,000 in 19 (-1) theaters; Cumulative: $363,442
Flow (Janus/Sideshow) Week 8; also on PVOD
$303,400 in 200 (+73) theaters; Cumulative: $3,008,000
All We Imagine as Light (Janus/Sideshow) Week 9
$52,600 in 51 (+7) theaters; Cumulative: $843,861
A Real Pain (Searchlight) Week 11; also on PVOD
$118,000 in 70 (-35) theaters; Cumulative: $8,029,000
Conclave (Focus) Week 12; also on PVOD and streaming
$60,000 in 68 (+12) theaters; Cumulative: $31,504,000
Anora (Neon) Week 13; also on PVOD
$90,000 in 111 (+6) theaters; Cumulative: $14,554,000
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