It was a busy weekend at the movies, although it was a mixed bag for the newcomers.

Wuthering Heights topped the box office, although its performance was divided by a slightly below average performance domestically and an over-performance overseas. Goat surpassed its forecast, and even managed to dethrone the prior film on Sunday and Monday. The real losers were Crime 101 and Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die, with the former continuing another losing streak for star Chris Hemsworth.

The Top 10 earned a combined $127.5 million this weekend. That's down 23.9% from last year, when Captain America: Brave New World opened at #1.

Opening in first place, there was WB's Wuthering Heights, which amassed $32.8 million ($37.5 million four-day) in 8,908 theaters. That's the best debut for director Emerald Fennell, already outgrossing her prior films Promising Young Woman and Saltburn. It's also Jacob Elordi's biggest ever debut as lead or co-lead.

This is a very solid debut, although the early forecasts for the film projected a four-day debut in the $40 million range (with some going as high as $50 million). But the truth is that it was a tough hill to climb for a film. It was the 33rd biggest debut in February, and it didn't come close to the figures of other high romance titles released during the month.

A film like Wuthering Heights has a ceilling, given that period films aren't known for high openings. At the end of the day, it's not the first Wuthering Heights adaptation. So on its own, this is a solid debut. Although one could argue that it could've done a little better than this. Pre-sales were reportedly high, but poor walk-ups led to an over-estimated number. WB mounted a very extensive marketing campaign (Deadline said they spent $85 million on marketing), and it was plastered all over the world. But there were some challenges to overcome.

For starters, a property like Wuthering Heights was never going to open as high as other popular adaptations like Fifty Shades of Grey ($85 million). Some people may be aware of the novel, but that doesn't mean they'll feel compelled to pay a ticket for another version. That's why it had a ceilling. But then the film had some months of poor press when it was clear that this was not gonna be a faithful Wuthering Heights adaptation.

Since its announcement, the film attracted controversy for casting Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in the lead roles, as it takes liberties with the stories and characterization. But perhaps it was the fact that this was going to be a radical new take on the property, deviating from the source material in some ways. That's why the film's title is stylized as "Wuthering Heights", explicitly telling you this won't be the novel you read. And it also indicated that this film would go on a more sexual and darker route, which would limit its potential. So the film lost some potential audience members who were hoping for a loyal adaptation to the novel.

There's also something to be said on how Fennell would execute this, based on the mixed word of mouth for Saltburn. Although it started with some positive reviews, the scores for Wuthering Heights had been dropping. It's currently sitting at 60% on RT, and it's nearing the rotten status. If you really want people to care for a new Wuthering Heights, you really need to deliver quality.

According to WB, 76% of the audience was female, and 63% was in the 18-34 demographic. Even though it was sold as a Valentine's Day release, only 22% of the audience was dates or marriages. They gave it a so-so "B" on CinemaScore. Not a bad score for a film like this, but it also doesn't point to great word of mouth. Wuthering Heights is already seeing the effects of front-loaded box office, given its steep 43% drop on Sunday. Given the mixed word of mouth, it's likely that the film collapses over the next weeks. Right now, a $75 million domestic total is likely for Wuthering Heights.

In second place, Sony's Goat over-performed projections with a pretty good $27.2 million ($35.1 million four-day). It's the best debut for an animated original since Elemental ($29.6 million).

The film cost $80-$90 million, so it will have to stay in here for a while before turning a profit, but this bodes very well for its prospects. With Zootopia 2 slowing down and Hoppers still a few weeks ago, Sony was smart in placing the film over the Presidents' Day weekend, as families were starving for a new animated film. The story may have been simple, but it was fun and cute enough to win over audiences. Some good reviews (80% on RT) didn't hurt either.

According to Sony, 51% of the audience was female, and 49% was in the 18-34 demographic. They gave it a great "A" on CinemaScore, signs of very good word of mouth. Even with Hoppers coming in early March, Goat should try to reach $100 million domestically. And it could get even higher. As a note, it's poised to overtake Wuthering Heights next week; it already topped the box office on Sunday and Monday. This goat's got game.

Debuting in third place, Amazon MGM's Crime 101 flopped with just $14.2 million ($16 million four-day) in 3,161 theaters. The debut is better than recent Amazon title Mercy ($12 million), but it's still an underwhelming figure considering its big $90 million budget.

Despite an intriguing cast, Crime 101 did not look much different from the countless crime thrillers we can find on streaming. Amazon spent considerably on marketing, but it still wasn't enough to fully connect with audiences. To the surprise of many, it was the week's highest rated newcomer with 86% on RT.

The failure once again highlights the difficulties of Chris Hemsworth at the box office. It continues his losing streak at the box office, following 2024's Furiosa and Transformers One. In fact, Hemsworth hasn't had a single box office hit outside the MCU since Snow White and the Huntsman in 2012. Seems that despite being known as Thor, audiences aren't attracted to Hemsworth's projects.

According to Amazon MGM, 59% was male, and 43% was 45 and older. They gave it a "B" on CinemaScore, suggesting the film's legs are up in the air. But it won't be enough to give it the legs it needs to survive. Given the trajectory of other titles, Crime 101 will probably finish with $45 million domestically.

After topping the box office for two weeks, Send Help dropped to fourth place with $8.8 million ($10.1 million four-day). This is an insane 2% drop from last week. The film has earned $47.8 million, surpassing Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell ($42.1 million) in the process. The film should reach almost $70 million by the end of its run.

In fifth place, Angel Studios' Solo Mio added $6.3 million ($7.2 million four-day). This is a drop of just 9%, indicating strong word of mouth. Through 11 days, the film has amassed $17.8 million, and it's poised to finish its run with around $30 million domestically.

Zootopia 2 had another incredible drop. It eased just 2% for a $3.8 million weekend ($5 million four-day). With $420.6 million in the bank, the film is now guaranteed to pass A Minecraft Movie ($424 million), and it could do it as early as next week.

Debuting in seventh place, Briarcliff's Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die flopped with just $3.6 million ($4.1 million four-day) in 1,610 theaters. It marked Gore Verbinski's worst ever debut, below his latest film A Cure for Wellness ($4.3 million).

To be fair, it would've been surprising if this broke out. Briarcliff is not a big distributor, for they lack the proper amount of money to give a film a successful marketing campaign. And the film's mix of science fiction, comedy and action was gonna be a challenge to entice viewers. And given the failure of other recent titles like Mercy, it seems audiences aren't enthusiastic to watch a film over the dangers of AI. Great reviews (85% on RT), but it barely moved the needle.

According to Briarcliff, 52% of the audience was in the 18-34 demographic. They gave it a middling "B" on CinemaScore, and with a sea of competition, it probably won't last long in theaters. It'd be surprising if Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die makes it past $10 million domestically. Given its $20 million budget, it will have to rely on ancilliaries to turn a profit.

Avatar: Fire and Ash increased a slight 1%, adding $3.5 million ($4.1 million four-day). The film's domestic total stands at $396.2 million.

Iron Lung dropped 50% for $3.4 million ($4 million four-day). The film has amassed $38.1 million so far.

Rounding out the Top 10 was Luc Besson's Dracula with $2.9 million ($3.4 million four-day). Through 11 days, the film has earned $9.4 million, and looks to finish with around $13 million.

The Strangers: Chapter 3 has already left the Top 10, earning just $2.2 million ($2.5 million four-day). That's a drop of just 35%, which contrasts its terrible reception, although the fact that last week was Super Bowl weekend helped it. Through 11 days, it has earned a meager $7.2 million, and will close with less than $9 million.

Neon released the comedy Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie in 365 theaters, debuting with $1.2 million ($1.4 million four-day). A solid debut, and the film will continue expanding over the following weeks.

There was another wide release, Cold Storage, but it flopped with just $966,446 in 1,041 theaters. Don't expect this to last long.

Melania continues freefalling. This time, it collapsed another 62%, earning just $893,047 this weekend. The film has earned a poor $15.4 million so far.

A24 expanded The Moment to 1,119 theaters, but it flopped with just $447,922. It collapsed a brutal 73% from last week, despite playing in double the locations. It's also an abysmal $400 per-theater average. This number is only a little above what it made two weeks ago in 4 theaters ($427,960), indicating that audiences outside Charli XCX's fanbase chose to ignore this. The film has amassed $3.4 million, and it will probably close its run with less than $4 million domestically.

OVERSEAS

Even though Wuthering Heights did not reach its forecast domestically, it more than made up for it with its performance outside America. It opened with $51 million through Monday, leading to a $88.5 million four-day debut. The best debuts were in the UK ($10.3M), Italy ($4.4M) and Australia ($4.3M), and also had solid debuts in Mexico ($3.3M), Germany ($2.4M), Spain ($2.2M), and Brazil ($1.1M). Although it disappointed in France ($1.9M), with negative word of mouth over the adaptation's changes. The film cost $80 million (along with another $85 million in marketing), so it'll be up to the overseas markets to get this to break even.

Goat debuted with $15.6 million overseas, for a $50.7 million worldwide debut. It had some pretty good debuts in the UK ($4.8M), Mexico ($1.8M), Spain ($1.2M), and France ($1.1M). Given how basketball films aren't big outside America, this is a very good place to start. Note that this was just 40% of its overseas markets, so there's still room for other markets to impress.

Crime 101 mustered just $11.9 million overseas, for a weak $27.9 million worldwide debut. The film had so-so debuts in the UK ($2M) and Australia ($1.4M), and it disappointed in Saudi Arabia ($790K), Germany ($750K), Japan ($745K), UAE ($605K), Spain ($515K), Mexico ($400K), Netherlands ($340K), Italy ($310K), Poland ($245K), Kuwait ($240K), and Brazil ($206K). Given its hefty $90 million budget, it doesn't look like the film will get anywhere close to that figure. Even if Amazon can take the losses, it's still a very disappointing performance.

Zootopia 2 added $11.7 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to an incredible $1.833 billion. For the curious, China has reached an insane $646.3 million alone.

Avatar: Fire and Ash added $9.4 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to $1.462 billion.

Send Help appears to lose steam outside America, as it dropped 50% for $3.8 million overseas, and $73.9 million worldwide. It opened in France with a disappointing $900K. Seems like the domestic market will have to do the heavy lifting.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

Movie Release Date Studio Domestic Opening Domestic Total Worldwide Total Budget Primate Jan/9 Paramount $11,155,908 $25,635,665 $40,735,511 $21M Paramount's Primate has closed with a meager $25 million domestically and $40 million worldwide, failling to recoup its $21 million budget. Despite some early positive reviews, the film didn't fully connect with audiences, vanishing quickly from theaters and having mediocre legs. I guess a lot of people weren't curious to learn what was wrong with Ben, huh.

THIS WEEKEND

There's three wide releases, but none are really looking to be a breakout.

The only one with a small chance of overtaking #1 is Lionsgate's I Can Only Imagine 2, sequel to the 2018 sleeper hit. Even though the original film was a success, 8 years is quite long for a sequel, and the decline at the box office for Christian titles will put some pressure on this.

20th Century Studios is releasing the thriller Psycho Killer, starring Georgina Campbell as a police officer on her mission to take down a serial killer known as "the Satanic Slasher" after he murdered her state trooper husband. Buzz has been very low, thanks to a very small and unimpressive marketing campaign. It'd be surprising if it made it past $5 million this weekend.

A24 is also releasing the dark comedy How to Make a Killing, starring Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, Bill Camp, Zach Woods, Topher Grace, and Ed Harris. Disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family, blue-collar Becket Redfellow will stop at nothing to reclaim his inheritance, no matter how many relatives stand in his way. While there's recognizable names, Powell is coming off the big failure of The Running Man, and the performance of dark comedies has been hit-and-miss lately. We'll see if this fares any different.

STREAMING DATA

How did Netflix do last week?

Figures for the week February 2-8:

No. Movie Year Studio Weeks in Top 10 Views Runtime Hours Viewed 1 The Investigation of Lucy Letby 2026 Netflix 1 12,900,000 1:35 20,500,000 2 Dhurandhar 2025 Jio Studios 2 8,200,000 3:26 28,100,000 3 Even If This Love Disappears From the World Tonight 2025 By4M Studios 1 7,800,000 1:46 13,800,000 4 The Rip 2026 Netflix 4 7,400,000 1:53 13,900,000 5 KPop Demon Hunters 2025 Netflix 34 6,100,000 1:40 10,100,000 6 In the Land of Saints and Sinners 2024 Netflix 1 5,000,000 1:46 8,900,000 7 Sweet Home Alabama 2002 Disney 1 4,400,000 1:49 8,000,000 8 96 Minutes 2025 Netflix 2 3,600,000 2:00 7,200,000 9 Overboard 2018 Lionsgate 1 3,500,000 1:53 6,500,000 10 Death Whisperer 3 2025 M Pictures 1 3,300,000 1:44 5,800,000

The Investigation of Lucy Letby topped the Netflix charts with 12.9 million views. But perhaps surprising was the Bollywood title Dhurandhar, which was #2 with 8.2 million and reaching 15.8 million views across its first two weeks.

After topping the charts for three weeks, The Rip dropped to #4 with 7.4 million views. With this, the film has crossed 104 million views over the course of one month.

Again, KPop Demon Hunters is still in the charts on its 34th week, still attaining over 6 million views.

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