Box office: Gerard Butler dethrones Mufasa, Vaiana 2 flirts with the billion

After a strong end to 2024, the American box office marked time in January with more modest releases and results. This context has just offered the highest place in the ranking to Gerard Butler and his new film Criminal Squad: Pantera (Den of Thieves 2: Pantera in original version), while the December blockbusters – Mufasa, Moana 2 And Sonic 3 – continue to collect greenbacks. We take stock.

First coronation for Lionsgate since 2023

With $15.5 million earned for its first weekend of operation, Criminal Squad: Pantera therefore comes first and at the same time offers to the studio Lionsgate Pictures (Saw, John Wick, Twilight) its first crown at the American box office since November 2023 and the film Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Serpent and the Songbird.

With a budget estimated at 40 million, Criminal Squad: Pantera is therefore off to a solid start, helped by this counter-programming strategy in a period where big releases are rare. For comparison, the first Criminal Squad had finished his career at 44.9 million in the United States, and 80 million worldwide. He can hope to repeat this score.

It's also a positive start for Gerard Butler. It is thus positioned above its recent Mayday (10.2 million) and Kandahar (2.3 million) in 2023, but remains far from that of The Fall of the President in 2019 (21.3 million).

In second place, Mufasa: The Lion King still gleans 13.2 million in 4th week, down 44%. The prequel to the live-action remake has a much more positive run than its light start (35.4 million) suggested, thanks in particular to the end-of-year holidays.

The film has just far exceeded the half-billion mark worldwide, and will end its American career beyond 200 million dollars. We are far from the global success of Lion King in 2019, but Mufasa avoids the announced fiasco.

Disney can also rejoice in the global success of Moana 2. The animated film still records 6.5 million for its seventh weekend and is now flirting with the billion dollars accumulated worldwide. A milestone that the film should easily surpass during the week, making it Moana 2 the 55th feature film in history (excluding inflation) to reach this highly symbolic mark.

In the rest of the ranking, Sonic 3 continues to consolidate its status as a “surprise” hit at the end of the year and has just surpassed the 200 million mark on American soil, again helped by the Christmas holidays. Its reasonable budget of 122 million ensures good profitability, while it is preparing to exceed Sonic 2 (402 million worldwide) to become the biggest success of the trilogy. Paramount has already announced a Sonic 4 for 2027.

Finally, we will note the good form of Nosferatuwhich will end its career beyond 150 million dollars worldwide, while on the other side of the prism, the biopic Better Man by Robbie Williams confirms his titanic belly. Weighed down by a budget estimated at 110 million, the film only garnered 1.1 million in the United States and 10 million worldwide. Ouch.

US box office from January 10 to 12, 2025 (estimates)