Den Of Thieves Tops 12 Strong At Thursday Box Office

By Julia Bianco/Jan. 19, 2018 12:49 pm EST

Gerard Butler is stealing the box office crown. The action star's latest film, the heist thriller Den of Thieves, beat out this weekend's other new release, Chris Hemsworth's 12 Strong, at the Thursday night box office, pulling in $950,000 from preview showings. (via Box Office Mojo)

Den of Thieves features Butler as a dirty cop who tries to stop a gang of robbers from targeting the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Los Angeles. The movie, which also stars Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Pablo Schreiber, and O'Shea Jackson Jr., is projected to pull in $6 million after receiving mostly negative reviews from critics.

12 Strong, meanwhile, features Hemsworth as Captain Mitch Nelson, a man who, following the 9/11 attacks, has to lead his team on a dangerous mission in Afghanistan to try to convince the general of the Northern Alliance (Navid Negahban) to join forces with them to fight the Taliban. The movie, which also stars Michael Shannon, Michael Pena, and Trevante Rhodes, made $900,000 in previews and is expected to make $13 million in its opening weekend.

Also opening this weekend is the PG-rated romantic drama Forever My Girl. The movie, which stars Alex Roe as a country music star who returns to the town where he once left his bride (Jessica Rothe) at the altar, is expected to make $2 to $3 million and is unlikely to crack the top ten in a busy weekend.

First place for the weekend is once again expected to go to Dwayne Johnson's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which should bring in somewhere around $19 million, continuing a solid box office run. Second place will likely again go to Steven Spielberg's The Post, which should capitalize on positive reviews and awards season buzz for an additional $14 million.

The rest of the top ten is likely to be filled out by familiar performers, including The Greatest Showman, The Commuter, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Paddington 2, Insidious: The Last Key, and Proud Mary. This weekend will also see expansions for Call Me By Your Name, Phantom Thread, and I, Tonya.