January is a historically slow month at the box office. Aside from awards season movies expanding into wider release, there usually aren’t too many big films to draw sizable crowds. Of course, that can open the door for the occasional underdog to win the day. Case in point, “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” is the first new hit of 2025, as the sequel topped the charts this past weekend. Gerard Butler’s Big Nick and O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie still have the juice, it turns out.

The sequel, which was written and directed by Christian Gudegast, opened to $15.5 million domestically, essentially matching the opening of the original “Den of Thieves” ($15.2 million). That’s a pretty impressive audience retention, considering that the first film reached theaters in 2018, a full seven years ago. That was also a very different time for the industry, pre-pandemic. Hence, it’s nice to see that a mid-budget action flick such as this can still draw a crowd. Good thing “Den of Thieves” didn’t become a TV show instead, which it almost did.

This is also a much-needed win for Lionsgate, as the studio was in pretty rough shape heading into the year. 2024 was Lionsgate’s worst-ever year at the box office, with the likes of “The Crow,” “Never Let Go,” “The Killers Game,” and “Borderlands” (among others) all bombing in theaters. To say that this win was welcome for the studio would be a dramatic understatement.

So, what went right here? What allowed “Den of Thieves 2” to triumph over the likes of “Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3?” We’re going to go over the biggest reasons why this sequel was a winner at the box office. Let’s get into it.

As mentioned, there was an unusually long gap between the first “Den of Thieves” and “Pantera.” There are various reasons for that, such as the collapse of STX, the studio that distributed the first film. Let’s not forget the pandemic that upended Hollywood in 2020, something that the industry is still recovering from in many ways. In any event, the gap between installments may have actually worked to the benefit of the sequel, in this case.

“Den of Thieves” was a hit in its day, taking in $80.5 million worldwide. More importantly, it has remained a success thanks to regular rotation on streaming and VOD (not to mention the Walmart discount DVD bin). To that end, “Den of Thieves” recently climbed to the top of the charts on Max ahead of the theatrical release of the sequel. The point is, the audience for the original film has only grown in the years since it opened in theaters. That undoubtedly benefited Lionsgate here, and might benefit the studio even more in the future, assuming it wants to make more of these heist flicks.

All due respect, but “Den of Thieves 2” is not exactly a critical darling. It currently carries a 57% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics largely mixed on the film. That said, audiences dig it, which is far more important. It holds a 79% audience rating to go with a solid B+ CinemaScore. For a not-so-short R-rated heist movie without any out-and-out A-list movie stars, that’s pretty dang good. It was also enough to give this one the word of mouth it needed among prospective ticket buyers.

The sequel sees Big Nick (Butler) on the hunt in Europe, closing in on Donnie (Jackson) after the events of the first film. Donnie is now steeped in the world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia. As an unlikely alliance forms, they plot a massive heist of the world’s largest diamond exchange. /Film’s Chris Evangelista gave “Den of Thieves 2” a 7 out of 10 review, calling it a “triumph of dudes rock cinema.” Audiences seem to agree thus far.

As alluded to previously, January is not usually a big month for theaters. Every once in a while, you’ll get an outright blockbuster like “Bad Boys for Life” that becomes a huge hit, but that’s more the exception rather than the rule. That being the case, the path was pretty much clear for “Den of Thieves 2” to take the crown at the domestic box office because, frankly, there was nothing standing in its way.

“Mufasa” and “Sonic 3” have already been in theaters for four weeks and have grossed the lion’s share of the money they are going to make. Likewise, “Wicked” and “Moana 2” have been in theaters for going on two months. Even Christmas hits such as “Nosferatu” and “Babygirl” already have three weekends in the books. Not to mention, “Den of Thieves 2” is the only major release targeted directly at the action crowd right now, which means that certain audience members were downright ready for a film like this. It was the right movie at the right time, plain and simple.

Even though this movie doesn’t have any huge stars in it, we should put a little respect on Butler’s name. He’s not Tom Cruise or Will Smith by any means, but in the right project, he’s a good box office bet. He certainly helped make the first “Den of Thieves” a hit, there’s no question about that. Butler was also a major asset to some of his biggest successes, including “300” and the “How to Train Your Dragon” films. In recent years, he’s been a mid-budget maven; even his somewhat modest hit “Greenland” is now getting a sequel.

Put simply, the man, in the right movie, is a star. Nobody bats 1,000, obviously, and Butler isn’t immune to misfiring, like when he starred in 2023’s “Kandahar” (which was a pretty sizable box office flop). Aside from that, however, Butler has proven time and time again he’s still got juice in the tank and can help turn something into a theatrical hit. In this case, he may well have helped birth a new, ongoing franchise for Lionsgate, a studio that tends to make the most of what it has. (See also: “Saw,” “The Hunger Games,” “Twilight.”) It knows how to squeeze every drop out of a property it can get. Butler can simply help the studio squeeze a little bit extra out of this one.

The biggest thing here is that “Den of Thieves 2” is right in Lionsgate’s wheelhouse. As the studio has done many times in the past, it has now turned a mid-budget movie into a hit and, very likely, an ongoing franchise. “Den of Thieves 3” has already been teed up nicely and, if “Den of Thieves 2” does well overseas, it will almost certainly get made. This is what Lionsgate does best. On the flipside, when it moves away from this sort of movie, things tend to go badly.

Between “John Wick,” “Knives Out,” and a number of other success stories, Lionsgate has proven it can be the king of the mid-budget movie in modern Hollywood. The success of this sequel only further fuels that fire. However, when the studio makes big-budget stuff like “Power Rangers,” “Moonfall,” “Robin Hood,” or “Borderlands,” things tend to go badly. This is the sandbox Lionsgate should be playing in because it’s demonstrated time and time again that it knows how to sell these movies to the public. This was a case of the right studio with the right piece of IP.

“Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” is in theaters now.