“Wuthering Heights” was No. 1 at the global box office with $82 million, ranking as the top worldwide debut of the year.
Those ticket sales include a better-than-expected $42 million internationally from 76 territories as well as $40 million over the four-day domestic debut. (Rival studios believe the North American tally will be closer to $35 million through the President’s Day holiday on Monday.)
Warner Bros. is backing the $80 million production. Directed by Emerald Fennell and starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, the bold and steamy remake of Emily Brontë’s classic novel follows a toxic relationship between star-crossed lovers Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff in 18th century England.
Since reviews and word-of-mouth have been mixed and domestic ticket sales were slightly softer than expected, “Wuthering Heights” may rely on international audiences to offset its budget. (That’s because movie theater owners keep roughly half of theatrical revenues.)
Top overseas markets were the United Kingdom with $10.3 million, Italy with $4.4 million and Australia with $4.3 million. Warner Bros. didn’t report any grosses from Asian territories, though the film has yet to open in two key markets, China and Japan.
Second place on global charts went to Sony’s animated sports comedy “GOAT,” which scored $47.6 million in its debut, including $15.6 million from 42 international markets. The kid-friendly film about an aspiring roarball champion (it’s like basketball, but different) has yet to open in 40% of overseas territories, including China, Australia, Germany and South Korea.
In countries where “GOAT” is playing, the U.K. brought in the biggest bounty with $4.8 million, followed by Mexico with $1.8 million and Spain with $1.2 million.
Since “GOAT” cost $80 million to produce, Sony is hoping the film will show the kind of impressive endurance that greeted recent animated offerings including 2023’s “Migration” (which had a much quieter start and eventually earned $300 million globally) and 2024’s “The Wild Robot (which also debuted in the teens overseas and powered to $334 million worldwide).
It helps that family audiences, who have been starved for a compelling new movie since “Zootopia 2” opened around Thanksgiving, won’t have anything new to see until Pixar’s “Hoppers” arrives in March.
“Crime 101,” a crime thriller starring Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo, captured the No. 3 spot with a soft $12 million from 60 markets.
The film, from Amazon MGM, stumbled at the domestic box office with $15 million over the traditional weekend and an estimated $17.7 million through Monday, bringing its global tally to $29.7 million over four days.
Top territories were the U.K. with $2 million, Australia with $1.4 million and Saudi Arabia with $790,000.
Although a decent launch for an R-rated movie aimed at adults, “Crime 101″ cost $90 million to produce (not including the marketing expenses).
That means the film will need a long theatrical life to justify its price tag.
Amazon MGM, which is relatively newer to the theatrical space, believes the big screen is helpful in terms of elevating the profile of films before they land on streaming. Directed by Bart Layton (“American Animals”), “Crime 101” stars Hemsworth as an elusive jewel thief who plots high-stakes heists across the Los Angeles freeway.
Source: Variety
--Agencies
