Powered by women, ‘Wuthering Heights’ sees love at box office

LOS ANGELES – “Wuthering Heights” opened with $34.8 million over the Valentine’s Day weekend to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

Director Emerald Fennell’s version of Emily Bronte’s 1847 romance novel stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, in the roles played by Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier in the classic 1939 film.

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This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Margot Robbie in a scene from “Wuthering Heights.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

The animated children’s movie “GOAT” opened with $26 million for a strong second place, Comscore reported.

“Crime 101,” a heist film starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry and Barry Keoghan, opened with $15.1 million for third place.

The survival thriller “Send Help” grossed another $8.9 million Friday through Sunday in its third weekend.
Fifth place went to the romantic comedy “Solo Mio,” which grossed $6.4 million in its second weekend.

Disney’s “Zootopia 2” continued its lengthy and impressive run, grossing $3.7 million in its 12th week in theaters, pushing its cumulative domestic total to over $419 million.

Rounding out the top 10 releases were “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” ($3.6 million), “Avatar: Fire and Ash” ($3.3 million), “Iron Lung” ($3.1 million) and “Dracula” ($3 million).

This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $119.2 million. The year-to-date total is $899.8 million — up 8.1% from the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.

Emerald Fennell’s bold reimagining of “Wuthering Heights” brought crowds of women to movie theaters this weekend. The Warner Bros. release topped the box office charts and nabbed the title for the year’s biggest opening with $34.8 million in ticket sales in its first three days in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.

According to PostTrak polling, an estimated 76% of those ticket buyers were women. By the end of Monday’s Presidents Day holiday, the total could rise to $40 million from its 3,682 locations.

The romantic drama starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as the star-crossed Catherine and Heathcliff, won out over the weekend’s other newcomers, including the animated “GOAT” and the heist thriller “Crime 101.” Its biggest day was Saturday’s Valentine’s Day holiday, where it earned $14 million. “Wuthering Heights” is also performing even better internationally, where it’s expecting to rake in an additional $42 million from 76 territories.

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Jacob Elordi in a scene from “Wuthering Heights.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

The Warner Bros./MRC production cost a reported $80 million to produce, not accounting for the millions spent on marketing and promotion. If the four-day totals match the estimates, that makes for a strong $82 million global debut. And the film still has several big openings on the horizon, in Japan and Vietnam on Feb. 27, and in China on March 13.

The success comes while the future of Warner Bros. hangs in the balance, as Paramount continues to sweeten its hostile takeover bid in hopes of winning out over Netflix. “Wuthering Heights” is the studio’s ninth No. 1 opening in a row.

Fennell’s version of “Wuthering Heights,” which takes many liberties with Emily Brontë’s novel, largely divided critics. It’s currently sitting at a mixed 63% on Rotten Tomatoes. While that didn’t dissuade audiences from buying tickets, only 51% of the opening weekend audience said that they would “definitely recommend” the film to friends. Moviegoers also gave it a less-than-stellar B CinemaScore. (With CNS and AP reports)

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