It was the weekend of the haves and the have-nots at the domestic box office.
In the “haves” column are holdovers GOAT, from Sony Pictures Animation, and Warner Bros.’ Margot Robbie-Jacob Elordi starrer Wuthering Heights. On Saturday, early estimates showed the two in a close race for first place with a projected $13 million to $15 million each.
But GOAT, thanks to pent-up demand among families, mowed down the competition to top the North American chart with an estimated $17.2 million from 3,842 theaters for a domestic cume of $58.3 million. Globally, it cleared the $100 million mark as its foreign tally rose to $44 million from 41 markets (it is rolling out much more slowly overseas, where it has yet to open in 30 percent of the marketplace). The pic is another win for Sony Animation, home of the hit Spider-Verse universe and Oscar nominee KPop: Demon Hunters.
Filmmaker Emerald Fennell’s unconventional adaptation of the Emily Brontë novel Wuthering Heights is also a win. It earned an estimated $14.2 million from 3,682 locations to come in second domestically, but won the weekend overseas among Hollywood fare with $26.3 million from 77 markets for an impressive global haul of $152 million, including $60 million domestically and $91.7 million internationally.
Last weekend, Wuthering Heights prevailed over GOAT in winning the long Valentine’s Day/Presidents Day frame with $32.8 million for the three-day weekend proper and $37.5 million for the four days (it was the ninth WB release to open at No. 1, possibly a record feat). It also did better than expected at the foreign box office, launching to $45.5 million from 77 marketsfor a global start of $83 million.
GOAT opened to $35 million domestically over the four-day holiday in North America, including roughly $26 million for the three days. Overseas, it launched in its first 42 territories.
Among a crowded herd of newcomers this weekend, Lionsgate and Kingdom Story’s faith-based sequel I Can Only Imagine 2 easily came in third with an estimated $8 million from 3,105 cinemas after earning a coveted A+ CinemaScore from audiences. While that’s a solid start, it’s roughly half as much as the original 2018 film opened to in the pre-pandemic era.
Baz Luhrmann‘s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is off to a rousing start in its limited debut in 325 Imax screens after earning glowing marks from both critics and audiences. From Neon, the concert doc took in an estimated $3.3 million domestically to crack the top 10 chart before it expands nationwide. It made an additional $1.1 million in select Imax screens offshore. Luhrmann — who also directed the acclaimed biopic Elvis starring Austin Butler — painstakingly restored 59 hours of unseen footage from the Warner Bros. archives, including discarded material from two ‘70s concert films.
Elvis Presley in Concert came in only a tad behind A24’s Glen Powell-starrer How to Make a Killing despite playing in far fewer cinemas. Billed as a black comedy, How to Make a Killing debuted to an unimpressive $3.5 million from 1,625 locations after getting dinged by many critics. Margaret Qualley, Ed Harris and Topher Grace also star in John Patton Ford’s reimagining of the classic British film Kings and Coronets.
And New Regency’s long-gestating Psycho Killer is DOA with an estimated $1.6 million start from 1,100 theaters. The slasher pic, which is helmed by veteran producer Gavin Polone in his feature directorial debut, couldn’t crack the top 10 after getting beat out by Avatar: Fire and Ash, which earned an estimated $1.8 million in its 10th weekend.
Psycho Killer‘s current critics score on Rotten Tomatoes is zero from 21 reviews, including this review from The Hollywood Reporter. The audience score isn’t much better (33 percent). Disney is distributing the film via 20th’s long-standing relationship with New Regency.
Among holdovers in the upper reaches of the chart, Amazon MGM Studios’ Crime 101 came in fourth in its sophomore outing with $6.2 million from 3,161 locations for a domestic tally of $24.7 million and $46.3 million globally.
20th Century’s R-rated Send Help continued to display staying power in its fourth weekend, earning $4.5 million from 2,800 locations to round out the top five for a domestic total of $55.5 million.
Angel Studio’s Kevin James-vehicle Solo Mio tumbled to No. 8 behind Elvis, earning $2.6 million from 2,300 theaters for a 10-day domestic tally of $21.8 million.
Disney’s film empire has two other films in the top 10, including Zootopia 2. The mega-animated hit celebrated yet another milestone this weekend when passing up Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch to become the No. 2 domestic release of 2025 with a domestic total of $423.9 million through Sunday. And James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash is on the verge of jumping the $400 million mark domestically for 20th Century as it finishes its 10th weekend with a global haul of $1.47 billion, including $399.4 million in North America. Like the Avatar threequel, Zootopia 2 opened over the Christmas holidays on its way to becoming the year’s top Hollywood release worldwide, as well as the top-grossing animated film of all time, not adjusted for inflation.
At the specialty box office, Focus Features’ Oscar contender Hamnet is approaching the $100 million mark globally. While finishing Sunday with a respectable domestic total of $23.1 million, it is waxing poetic overseas, where it continues to roll out timed to the upcoming Academy Awards. Through Sunday, it has grossed nearly $65 million at the foreign box office for a global total nearing $88 million. Universal International is handling the film in most markets and is responsible for a lion’s share of ticket sales, or $63.8 million. To date, it is pacing ahead of previous best picture nominees Conclave and Poor Things at the same point in time, while already surpassing the lifetime international gross of The Favourite.
Feb. 22, 8 a.m.: Updated with revised estimates.
This story was orignally published February 21 at 9:54 a.m.
