Lionsgate's heist thriller sequel, starring Gerard Butler and O'Shea Jackson Jr., opens at No. 1 despite slow January weekend and LA theater closures.

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 on the higher end of expectations and landed about even with its predecessor’s $15.

Pantera debuts in the US theaters today. Review scores for the sequel have now started to come in and have surpassed those of the original, with the movie getting strong ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.