Box Office: ‘Wuthering Heights’ Predicts $82M Global Bow But ‘GOAT’ Poses Surprise Threat in U.S.
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi's new movie Valentine's Day/Presidents Day was expected to open to $40 million in North America but Sony Animation and Stephen Curry's 'GOAT' is gaining ground far too quickly for comfort.
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’sWuthering Heights easily seduced Valentine’s Day moviegoers, winning Saturday in North America with $14.4 million as it prepares to top the long Presidents Day/Valentine’s Day chart with an estimated $40 million domestically and $42 million from more than 75 markets for a global launch of $82 million.
However, filmmaker Emerald Fennell’s decidedly unconventional literary adaptation of Emily Brontë’s iconic novel is at risk of coming in behind expectations at the domesticbox office and not hitting the $40 million mark. Through Sunday, the film’s three-day tally was $34.8 million, by far the best of any film. It also means it will need to earn $9.4 million on Monday to hit $40 million
Related Stories
In the final weeks before Fennell’s latest opened, tracking services had it starting off with as much as $50 million stateside as Robbie — also a prolific producer —returns to the big screen in her first studio leading role since Warner Bros.’ blockbusterBarbie.
Some box office pundits showed the female-skewing film coming in between $33 million and $35 million for the four days after not-so-great reviews, a B CinemaScore and solid, but not spectacular, exit polls conducted by PostTrak.
Complicating matters, Sony Animation and Stephen Curry’s animated filmGOAT is over-performing, with some suggesting it could beatWuthering Heights for the four days. It earned $26 million for the weekend itself, and is estimated to gross another $7 million on Monday (Presidents Day) for a four-day debut of debut of $32 million. Overseas,GOAT opened to $15.6 million from 41 markets for a worldwide start of $42 million.
Amazon MGM Studio’sCrime 101 is coming in on the higher end of expectations; the big caveat is the $90 million paid to pick up the project. AndGOAT, which grossed $11.4 million on Valentine’s Day, could end up nipping atWuthering Heights‘ heels domestically, with Sony now predicting a four-day launch of $32 million. That would mark the biggest start for an original animated studio pic since Elemental, not adjusted for inflation.
But never underestimate the instincts of Warners chiefs Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, who have pulled a rabbit out of the hat more than once in tapping a director who comes more from the auteur side of the aisle (Fennell previously directedSaltburn andA Promising Young Woman), or betting on an original film that others may deem too risky theatrically. Look no further than their current Oscar frontrunner,One Battle After Another, from Paul Thomas Anderson; Warners is also home toRyan Coogler’s fellow Oscar frontrunnerSinners, an original story many questioned before it both succeeded at the box office and picked up the most Academy Award noms ever for an individual film.
While the most obvious go-to target audience forWuthering Heights is older females, the studio’s marketing team also worked hard to seduce Gen Zers and younger Millennials, as reflected by much of the ad campaign. Their efforts paid off. Now the trick will be to get older females to show up as well (in movie parlance. Throughout much of the weekend, 53 percent of the audience was between ages 18 and 34, yet the R-rated film was slapped with a B CinemaScore by a demo group the filmmakers assumed would be more sympathetic. (Overall, femmes made up 76 percent of all ticket buyers.)
Reviewers are also divided, which prompted a rash of stories last week as the film’s Rotten Tomatoes critics score began dropping preciitously (it currently rests at 63 percent), while the audience ranking onRotten Tomatoes is 84 percent for Fennell’s reinterpretation of the 1847 Brit-lit classic about obsessive love, possession and doomed passion on the West Yorkshire moors as the worlds of the brooding Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw collide.
Warners and partner MRC paid $80 million to pick up global rights to the project, reportedly beating out a far larger offer of $150 million from Netflix.
GOAT was the only new film to earn an A CinemaScore, along with near-perfect PostTrak exit scores, in a nod to the team at Sony Animation, home to both theSpider-Verse movies and cultural sensationKpop Demon Hunters.
Inspired by a tale from Curry’s childhood, the original family pic follows Will, a small goat with big dreams (Caleb McLaughlin), who gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to join the pros and play roarball — a high —intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world. Will’s new teammates aren’t thrilled about having a little goat on their roster, but Will is determined to revolutionize the sport and prove once and for all that “smalls can ball.”
WhileWuthering Heights is popping among younger women,Crime 101is getting a larger share of older females, which Warners is also targeting. Translated: the heist pic was a popular Valentine’s Day date-night choice for the 55 and older age set. Director Bart Layton’s ensemble crime noir pic is looking at a third-place finish with $17.8 million through Monday, including $15.1 million for the three-day weekend. It opened to $12 million overseas from 60 markets.
Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry, Mark Ruffalo star in the movie, which is based on author Don Winslow’s novella of the same name that follows detective Lou Lubesnick as he attempts to solve a string of multimillion-dollar jewel heists by tracking the perpetrator who follows a strict set of rules known as “Crime 101.” As the fates of the various characters converge, the line between hunter and hunted blurs.
Working Title producedCrime 101 alongside The Story Factory, RAW and Wild State. Amazon MGM paid $90 million-plus for rights to the project. Some in media have taken at the the amount, but Amazon’s financial modeling is different from a legacy studio and doesn’t factor in the value of having both a theatrical and streaming run.
Crime 101‘s current Rotten Tomatoes score is a steady 86 percent, compared toWuthering Heights‘ 63 percent and 79 percent forGOAT. (THR‘s review ofCrime 101 is more skeptical than the others.)
Angel Studios’ Kevin James feel-good comedySolo Mio rounded out the top five with $6.4 million for the there-day weekend.
Three movies from the Disney empire populated the top 20 chart as it became the first Hollywood studio to cross the $1 billion mark in 2026 global ticket sales, thanks toSend Help,Avatar: Fire and Ash andZootopia 2. The latter two were released over the year-end holidays.
Because of the four-day weekend, numbers could easily shift. Grosses will be updated Monday morning.
.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day
More from The Hollywood Reporter
- Twinless
Spirit Awards Snubs: Top Nominees ‘Peter Hujar’s Day,’ ‘One of Them Days,’ ‘Twinless’ Shut Out
![]()
- spirit awards 2026
Robby Hoffman Clears Up Claim That Spirit Awards Grant Recipients Can “Spend the Money How You Want”: “I Didn’t Read the Script”
![]()
- spirit awards 2026
Spirit Awards: Clint Bentley Says ‘Train Dreams’ Is About “All the Small Lives That Keep the World Going”
![]()
- spirit awards 2026
Rose Byrne Wins Spirit Award, Says ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’ Character “Could Only Exist” in an Indie Film
![]()
- Train Dreams
Spirit Awards: ‘Train Dreams’ Director Clint Bentley Credits Films for “Putting Goodness Into the World” While It “Feels Like It’s On Fire”
![]()
- spirit awards 2026
Spirit Awards: ‘Lurker’ Director Alex Russell Likens Indie Film Risk to ‘Ratatouille’ Scene After Best First Screenplay Win
![]()
The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter
From the Magazine
Most Popular
Must Reads