The 50 Cent-produced movie Den of Thieves 2: Pantera stormed into theaters and claimed the top spot at the U.S. box office this weekend, pulling in $6 million in ticket sales on its debut.
The gritty action drama, headlined by Gerard Butler and Ice Cube’s son O’Shea Jackson Jr., revisits its 2018 predecessor’s adrenaline-fueled narrative of high-stakes heists and relentless law enforcement showdowns.
Early projections suggest the sequel could close its opening weekend with a robust $15 million, according to Deadline.
While Den of Thieves 2 made a flashy entrance, Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King slipped to second place after reigning at the box office for nearly a month.
The prequel, featuring the voices of Aaron Pierre Blue Ivy Carter and Tiffany Boone, has already achieved a significant milestone: breaking into the top 15 highest-grossing musicals of all time in the U.S., surpassing 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns.
Meanwhile, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 dashed down the ranks to the third spot but is showing no signs of hitting the brakes on its momentum.
The latest installment in the video game-inspired franchise has already cemented its status as the highest-grossing Sonic film at the U.S. box office, outpacing its earlier chapters.
Not every new release managed to shine this weekend, however. Better Man, the Robbie Williams biopic, struggled to strike a chord with North American audiences, failing to break into the top 10.