Theater counts: Mufasa reigns supreme entering its fourth weekend

January 9, 2025

For the past few weeks, the battle of the box office has pitted Sonic The Hedgehog 3 against Mufasa: The Lion King, with the latter outpacing the former during the past seven days, but still playing catch-up by about $18 million in total domestic gross due to a solid performance out of the gate by the former early in its run. This weekend will feature a third contender in the way of yet another sequel, this time in the form of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.

As the second installment in the Den of Thieves franchise, the newest film once again brings back Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr., portraying Detective Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien and Donnie Wilson, respectively. Starting out in 3,008 cinemas, the movie follows the original film, which snagged just short of $45 million from its nine-week run in early 2018. Pantera follows Nick as he is back on the hunt for Donnie, this time in Europe, as he has his sights on another heist. Christian Gudegast returns as director to helm the latest picture.

Also opening in wide release is the Ram Charan action film, Game Changer. The feature follows an honest IAS officer who fights against a corrupt political system through fair and transparent elections. No official theater count has been reported for the Indian action-thriller, but we will update it when it is announced.

Worth noting is the wide expansion of the Robbie Williams biographical musical, Better Man, and the drama, The Last Showgirl, starring Pamela Anderson, which will be available in 1,289 and 870 movie theaters, respectively.

Rounding out the top five this weekend is the aforementioned king of the Savannah, as Mufasa once again retains the crown as the widest release with 3,620 locations. Right behind, in only 38 fewer theaters, is Sonic, still playing in a wide 3,582 movie houses. Occupying the third place spot is the other Walt Disney release, Moana 2, which can still be seen in 3,170 venues. Lastly, Nosferatu drops 50 locations but is still available in 3,082 cinemas this weekend.

Looking ahead to next weekend, we see the cinematic debut of two wide releases with the opening of Wolf Man and One of Them Days, which has the former beginning its run in approximately 3,200 locations while the latter is expected to release in about 2,500 theaters.

Filed under: Theater Counts, The Lion King, Sonic The Hedgehog, Den of Thieves, Gerard Butler, Robbie Williams, O’Shea Jackson, Jr., Christian Gudegast, Ram Charan