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.

Lionsgate is hoping to put a poor 2024 box office behind them starting with the release of “Den of Thieves: Pantera,” which is opening to a solid $15 million from 3,008 locations and the studio’s first No. 1 since “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” in November 2023.

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.