The following contains spoilers for Den of Thieves 2: PanteraThe lovers of scuzzy "dad movies" out there have secured another win with the success of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, a follow-up to Gerard Butler and O'Shea Jackson Jr.

I wasn’t actively writing about movies when Den of Thieves came out in 2018, so it was one I opted to skip at the time. However, I became aware that a bit of a cult following started to grow around the Gerard Butler heist movie,

Writer/director Christian Gudegast’s Den Of Thieves is not a film that particularly appealed to my personal sensibilities, but it did allow me to go into the sequel with an open mind and reasonable hopes.

That’s pacing a touch ahead of the first “Den of Thieves,” which STX opened in January 2018 to a $5.6 million opening day and $15.2 million three-day total. It’s also going to be Lionsgate’s first opening on top of the box office since “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” bowed in November 2023.

With “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” (Lionsgate), Gerard Butler displayed his bona fides as one of the most reliable draws for action releases. Opening at #1 with $15.5 million, it came in a little ahead of projections and led #2 “ Mufasa: The Lion King” (Disney).

Gerard Butler loved performing high-risk stunts during the making of the heist sequel 'Den of Thieves 2: Pantera'.

Pantera leaves viewers wondering if thieves can ever be in total alignment when it’s against their true nature. In this franchise sequel, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Gerard Butler band together as unlikely forces and blur the lines between the actions of an anti-hero and a real villain.