Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. in “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.”
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera—starring Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr.—is looking to bounce Mufasa: The Lion King from the top of the weekend office.
The action crime thriller is the sequel to the 2018 hit Den of Thieves. According to Deadline, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera—a Lionsgate release—is expected to earn $15 million in its opening weekend from 3,008 North American theaters from Friday to Sunday to earn the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office.
Should the projection hold, Den of Thieves 2’s opening tally will be enough to knock Mufasa: The Lion King from the top of the domestic box office, a position it has held at the weekend box office since the five-day Christmas weekend.
Deadline projects Disney’s live-action prequel to its 2019 remake of The Lion King will earn $11.7 million in the Friday to Sunday frame from 3,620 theaters domestically. Should the projection hold, it will boost Mufasa: The Lion King’s domestic tally to $187.2 million to date.
The Hollywood trade publication projects that Paramount Pictures’ live-action and animated hybrid Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will take No. 3 this weekend with $8.67 million from 3,582 North American venues. If the estimate holds, it will up Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s running domestic tally to $202.1 million through Sunday.
Focus Features’ Nosferatu is projected by Deadline to earn $6.3 million from 3,082 theaters to take No. 4 at the weekend box office. Should the estimate hold, it will boost director Robert Eggers’ remake of the 1922 horror film classic to $81.3 million domestically since its Christmas Day opening.
Rounding out the top five at the weekend box office is Disney’s Moana 2, which Deadline projects will earn $5.9 million from 3,170 North American theaters to boost its domestic tally to $434.2 million since its Nov. 27 opening.
Pamela Anderson in “The Last Showgirl.”
‘The Last Showgirl’ Opens In Top 10
Roadside Attractions’ drama The Last Showgirl is projected by Deadline to open in the domestic top 10 with $1.35 million from 870 North American theaters.
Following a qualifying awards season run in December, the nationwide release of The Last Showgirl follows star Pamela Anderson’s nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in the film category by the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Wednesday.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays the best friend of Anderson’s character in The Last Showgirl, also earned a SAG Award nomination for her supporting work in the film.
Opening outside of the top 10 at the domestic weekend box office is the Robbie Williams fantasy music biopic Different Man, which opened in 1,291 theaters nationwide.
Deadline projects that the Paramount Pictures release will earn $1.1 million in its domestic debut.
Note: This report will be updated throughout the weekend with new domestic and international box office information as it becomes available. The final numbers for this weekend’s box office will be released on Monday.
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