‘Den of Thieves 2’ Steals Box Office Crown With $15M, Robbie Williams Biopic ‘Better Man’ Tanks With $1M Debut

On January 14, 2025By Littum

Lionsgate’s heist thriller “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” stole the box office crown, debuting at No. 1 with $15.5 million from 3,008 North American theaters.

The sequel to 2018’s “Den of Thieves” opened at the higher end of expectations, landing around even with its predecessor’s $15.2 million launch. The first film also opened in January and reached $80 million globally by the end of its theatrical run. The second installment needs an even better display of stamina because it has a $40 million production budget. Moviegoers liked the film more than critics; “Den of Thieves 2” earned a “B+” grade on CinemaScore and 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. Gerard Butler stars as Big Nick, a tough Los Angeles police officer who is now on the hunt in Europe to track down former pirate Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who is planning a massive diamond heist.

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“These movies are made for audiences, not critics,” says David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Gerard Butler is an established action star and this kind of good-versus-bad-guys material plays well around the world. Foreign business should be solid.”

Although Lionsgate usually mitigates risk by selling foreign rights to its theatrical titles, the company hopes “Den of Thieves 2” signals a rebound in big-screen fortunes. In 2023, the studio suffered a an unprecedented losing streak of seven consecutive flops as moviegoers rejected offerings like the “Boderlands” video game adaptation, “The Crow” reboot and the Halle Berry thriller “Never Let Go.” Lionsgate’s 2025 slate looks stronger with commercial opportunities such as “John Wick” spinoff “Ballerina,” “Saw XI” and Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” on the calendar.

Another newcomer, Paramount’s musical biopic “Better Man,” in which a CGI monkey portrays British singer Robbie Williams, hit all the wrong notes with a paltry $1 million from 1,291 venues, albeit fewer screens than the average nationwide release. The film, directed by “The Greatest Showman’s” Michael Gracey, captures the rise of the best-selling local artist through the lens of a chimpanzee because, as Williams puts it, he always felt “less evolved than other people.” Even across the pond, where Williams is better known than he is in the U.S., “Better Man” had $1.9 million to open and $4.7 million to date. These ticket sales do not bode well for commercial prospects, even though “Better Man” has been well reviewed.

“Better Man” was produced independently for about $110 million and bought by Paramount for $25 million. Musical biopics have been on the rise, with films about Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston and Bob Dylan in theaters in just the past three years, but some (“Back to Black” was another misfire) are destined to sing off key at the ticket office.

“Robbie Williams played by a digitally animated chimpanzee (is) an odd choice. For anyone who complains that the industry is playing it too safe, this is your movie,” says Gross. “The risk-taking is excellent, but $110 million is not realistic for the genre and for this musical artist. $25 to $30 million would have made more sense.”

“Better Man” opened at No. 14, well behind special releases that were played in far fewer places. A24’s “The Brutalist,” a historical epic that clocked in at three hours and 30 minutes (including an intermission), for example, earned an impressive $1.38 million from just 68 screens. Last weekend, “The Brutalist” won the Golden Globes for best drama, best director for Brady Corbet and best actor for Adrien Brody, who portrays fictional architect László Tóth, who immigrates to the United States after the Holocaust to start a new life. The Oscar contender will expand to a limited nationwide footprint next weekend, with a wider expansion (including Imax screens) set for Jan. 24.

Overall, this weekend was predictably quiet for going to the movies, though it may have been softer than expected as a destroyer wildfires continued to rage through parts of Los Angelesone of the largest theater markets in the country.

In second place, Disney’s “Mufasa” collected $13.5 million from 3,620 venues in its fourth weekend of release. After a rocky start, the $200 million-budgeted “Lion King” prequel has bounced back nicely with $189 million domestically and $500 million worldwide to date.

The co-Christmas release, Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” took No. No. 3 with $11 million from 3,582 theaters. The threequel about a blue, anthropomorphic speedster has crossed the $200 million mark domestically with $204 million so far and $350 million globally.

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