‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘GOAT’ and ‘Crime 101’ storm top three of global box office chart

Worldwide box office: February 13-15

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

‘Wuthering Heights’ makes strong $82m debut

Emerald Fennell has set a new box-office bar with her third feature Wuthering Heights – the first from the writer/director to achieve full global theatrical release.

Distributor Warner Bros reports an estimated $34.8m in North America for the February 13-15 weekend period on Wuthering Heights, and $40.0m including Monday’s Presidents’ Day holiday. Across 76 international markets, the estimate is $42.0m, and those numbers combine to deliver $82m globally including the holiday.

While North America has come in below bullish forecasts of a $50m opening, the international numbers look robust, especially in UK/Ireland which leads with an estimated $10.3m. The Yorkshire moors setting and English nationality of source author Emily Bronte essentially make the UK the domestic market for the film, produced by MRC with Lucky Chap Entertainment and Lie Still.

Italy ranks second among international markets with an estimated $4.4m, just ahead of Australia ($4.3m), which is home to lead actors Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. Next come Mexico ($3.3m) and Germany ($2.4m).

Both Spain and Poland (tied on an estimated $2.2m) are ahead of France ($1.9m) – with the latter providing only the eighth-biggest international opening number. Major territory Brazil ranks ninth, with an estimated $1.1m.

Warner Bros’ reported $80m gamble to acquire the period literary adaptation from MRC looks to have paid off, although – factoring in marketing costs and revenue splits with cinemas – the film has a fair journey to achieve break-even.

The studio reports brisk business on Valentine’s Day (February 14), which conveniently fell on a Saturday this year, with strong jumps in markets including Poland, Spain and Denmark.

Previously, Fennell’s Promising Young Woman and Saltburn received patchy global theatrical releases. The former landed in cinemas in pandemic-era late 2020 – premiering on Sky Cinema in the UK, for example. The latter launched on Amazon Prime Video in many major markets in December 2023. Global lifetime theatrical box office is reported respectively at $18.9m and $21.0m.

Markets yet to release Wuthering Heights include Japan and Vietnam (both set for late February) and China (mid-March).

Sony animation ‘GOAT’ bounces off with $42m

Sony Pictures Animation’s anthropomorphic animal tale GOAT – about a small goat who dreams of glory in the basketball-like sport of roarball – has opened with an estimated $26.0m in North America for the weekend, and $32.0m including the holiday Monday. Add in an estimated $15.6m across 42 international markets, and GOAT has launched with $47.6m worldwide.

Sony estimates that the international rollout so far represents 60% of the full footprint. Europe led with an estimated $11.1m, including $4.8m for UK/Ireland – boosted by previews the previous weekend (February 7-8). Spain follows for the Europe region with an estimated $1.2m, just ahead of France ($1.1m).

Latin America yielded an estimated $3.6m, led by Mexico ($1.8m).

Key markets yet to release include Germany (February 19), Australia (March 12), China (March 14), Saudi Arabia (April 23) and South Korea (April).

The release of GOAT follows the worldwide success of rival animation studio Disney’s anthropomorphic animal adventure Zootopia 2, which added an estimated $15.5m globally in its 12^th weekend of release, taking the total to $1.83bn. Zootopia 2 ranks fourth at the worldwide weekend box office for the latest session – a powerful feat of sustained success.

“Non-human characters allow people to read themselves into stories differently,” Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creative officer Jared Bush told Screen in January. “We’re trying to tell stories that resonate with people globally.”

‘Crime 101’ lands with $27m

Amazon MGM Studios’ LA-set heist thriller Crime 101 launched at the weekend in North America and 60 international markets. For the former, estimated numbers are $15.1m for the three-day weekend and $17.7m including the Presidents’ Day holiday. For international, the estimate is $12.0m – giving a global launch of $29.7m.

Among international markets, UK/Ireland leads with an estimated $2.0m, ahead of Australia ($1.4m), Saudi Arabia ($790,000), Germany ($750,000) and Japan ($745,000).

There are 20 markets yet to release, including, in Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam and South Korea.

Crime 101 is the third feature from the UK’s Bart Layton, following Bafta-winning docudrama hybrid The Imposter (2012) and crime thriller American Animals (2018). Worldwide box office for the earlier features is reported respectively at $3.0m and $4.1m – although the true numbers are likely higher.

Given the paucity of glossy, star-driven crime thrillers released theatrically by studios in recent years, plenty of attention will be paid to the box office trajectory of Crime 101 – a film that has been compared to Michael Mann’s Heat, released more than 30 years ago.

Chris Hemsworth stars alongside Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry and American Animals’ Barry Keoghan.

Production budget of Crime 101 is reported at $90m, and the film has a long way to go to recoup via theatrical. However, Amazon MGM Studios will likely be focusing more on achieving a strong theatrical halo for Layton’s film, ahead of streaming launch on Prime Video.

‘The King’s Warden’ enters global top 10 chart

South Korean historical drama The King’s Warden (aka The Man Who Lives With The King) has landed in the worldwide weekend box office chart in its second weekend of play, with estimated takings of $7.5m. Box office since release on February 4 totals $14.0m.

Jang Hang-jun’s film, distributed in its home market by Showbox, explores the life of the deposed teenage King Danjong during his exile to Gangwon Province in 1457. The cast is led by Yoo Hae-jin (Exhuma) as the local village chief and Park Ji-hoon (from boy band Wanna One) as the deposed young king.

Among other local titles, French hit Marsupilami has added another estimated $9.0m at the weekend, taking the total after 12 days to $22.2m. Russian family adventure Skaza O Tsare Saltane has debuted with an estimated $8.1m.

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