- Wuthering Heights £7,665,295 – NE
Took £2.2m 28.99% Friday; £3.29m 43.35% Saturday; £2.1m 27.67% Sunday; Monday £1.2m
177th biggest opening between Night at the Museum and Iron Man 2 (close to Bridget Jones’s Baby, Fifty Shades Darker, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Girl on the Train) and 266th biggest inflated opening between War for the Planet of the Apes and Rambo: First Blood Part II (close to 8 Mile, Maleficent, American Pie: The Wedding and Tomorrow Never Dies).
10th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between The Fantastic Four and F1 (close to Mission Impossible 8, How To Train Your Dragon, Superman and The Conjuring: Last Rites).
Ahead of opening, Wuthering Heights received huge media coverage over the last few weeks due to it being the latest adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel, read every year by hundreds of thousands of school children as it’s on the GCSE syllabus for English Literature, starring Margot Robbie after her huge success in Barbie, directed by Emerald Fennell and being made in the UK.
Opened in 750 cinemas the 3rd widest ever opening in the UK after No Time To Die (773) and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (755) and ahead of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (747) as it was showing in multiple screens Wuthering Heights was probably playing in up to 2,000 screens; 47th 700+ cinema opening since 2018’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
The UK normally uses 10% of the US opening as a guide to its UK opening. Wuthering Heights was 53.78%. similar to Crying Game, Bridget Jones’s Diary, A Life Less Ordinary, Cats, Shaun of the Dead and Saltburn (45.20%). While 50 Shades of Grey was only 15.91%. similar to Downton Abbey 16.69%.
These films all share one thing: they are culturally British in ways that don’t always translate. Shaun of the Dead made more in the UK than in the US because its humour is so specifically British. Bridget Jones nearly did the same. Saltburn rode the Fennell brand to a stronger US showing but was still rooted in British aristocratic satire.
Emerald Fennell has said that she made Wuthering Heights for the 14-year-old girl she was, but if that were the case, it wouldn’t have been a 15, and it would have been similar to other period films like Sense and Sensibility, Little Women and Emma.
After Emerald Fennell previously directed Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, Wuthering Heights has been seen more as a period spin of Fifty Shades of Grey than focusing on the original text. This has seen the film receiving mixed reviews as it’s not the Wuthering Heights many expected, as it focuses on the sexualised nature of the relationship and, similar to Fifty Shades of Grey, which was a fanfiction of Twilight, the 2026 film is more fanfictions being sex over substance.
Wuthering Heights was positioned and marketed as a global event:
Margot Robbie after Barbie; Jacob Elordi as Gen Z heartthrob; Valentine’s Day release; $80M budget; 40% from premium formats and “Erotic” sell.
But the box office ratio reveals the truth: it’s a British film that escaped. The UK audience showed up because:
The novel is on the GCSE syllabus (hundreds of thousands of students); The setting is Yorkshire, the moors, quintessentially English; The cast includes British actors (Robbie is Australian, but the production is UK-based); Fennell is a British director with Saltburn pedigree. The rest of the world came for the stars and the controversy, but they didn’t connect the same way.
30 years ago, Baz Luhrmann directed Romeo and Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. It was set in modern times but kept all the key elements of the film and the Shakesperen text, and it has beloved audiences ever since.
1997’s Romeo + Juliet opened £662,546/£1,303,930 179 screens taking £7,438,055/£14,638,531
Romeo + Juliet was made for 14-year-old girls studying the play for English Literature, and as Leonardo DiCaprio was 21 and Clare Danes was 17, they were close to the age of Romeo and Juliet, and the film played strongly to the 14-year-old girl. This was similar to a year later, when Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet played characters that were also close to their age, and a 14-year-old girl went to see Titanic again and again and again in the cinema.
2013’s The Great Gatsby opened £4,095,325/£5,023,515 taking £15,446,265/£18,947,103
By focusing on the sexual elements of the novel, it has made some wonder if the director understands the deeper meaning of the novel, as with abuse, pain and trauma its far from a sweet romantic film for Valentine’s Day.
English period romance dramas have been a mainstay of cinema for decades, as they have a nostalgic element to dating that began with courtship, etiquette, letters, and lingering glances rather than the immediate physicality of swiping on an app.
Emerald Fennell’s previous films, 2020’s Promising Young Woman, didn’t have a UK cinema release due to COVID and were released on Sky Cinema; 2023’s Saltburn opened £841,064, taking £5,577,963.
Wuthering Heights opens over Valentine’s Day weekend, and female-focused films have opened strongly over this weekend, including 2025’s Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy opening £12,298,966; £3.54m Friday; £3.67m Saturday; £2.98m Sunday, taking £46,367,473.
11 years ago, Fifty Shades of Grey opened Valentine’s Day weekend at £13,550,290 (took £4.61m Friday), taking £38,570,543/£42,368,752; Fifty Shades Darker opened £7,906,468, and Fifty Shades Freed £6,132,414.
Except for the film Valentine’s Day in 2010 until 50 Shades of Grey, there wasn’t this focus on major female-friendly films opening ahead of Valentine’s Day; there were films such as I Give It A Year and This is 40, but the main focus was family films, as it was the start of half-term holidays. Also, to focus a film on one day also makes little sense unless the title is, of course, Valentine’s Day, as the aim is to have a film to play for months, not weeks.
Modern versions include.
2019’s Little Women opened £3,578,877/£3,970,472, taking £21,283,939/£23,612,791
2020’s Emma opened £1,635,797/£1,850,669 taking £7,455,943/£8,435,325 (COVID affected)
1996’s Emma opened £402,155/£1,400,549 taking £5,012,831/£17,457,729
2005’s Pride And Prejudice opened £2,529,947/£4,302,521 taking £14,562,448/£24,765,437
1996’s Sense and Sensibility opened £629,152/£1,238,208 taking £13,605,627/£26,776,676
1995’s Little Women opened £423,563/£974,925 taking £3,143,960/£7,236,529
If Emerald Fennell had made Wuthering Heights for the 14-year-old girl she was, it might not have generated as much media coverage and might not have opened as big, but it would have had the legs of other period dramas. Instead, Wuthering Heights will hold similar to 50 Shades of Grey, dropping 50%-60% in its second weekend.
- 2. Goat £3,499,777 – NE
Includes £1,278,105 from weekend previews Sat/Sun
Took £393k 11.24% Friday; £951k 27.20% Saturday; £871k 24.91% Sunday; Monday £989k.
504th biggest opening between Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and The King’s Man (close to Dungeons & Dragons, Fantastic Four (2005), The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Scary Movie 3) and 755th biggest inflated opening between The Marvels and Four Weddings and a Funeral (close to Kindergarten Cop, Edward Scissorhands, Back to the Future and Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang).
22nd biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Snow White and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (close to Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Hamnet, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants and Weapons).
84th biggest animation opening between Cars 2 and The Secret Life of Pets 2 (close to Despicable Me, Migration, Hotel Transylvania 3 and Onward), and 110th biggest inflated animation opening between Coraline and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle (close to Dinosaur, Bee Movie, Antz and Mulan).
114th widest opening in 663 cinemas, similar to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (close to DC League of Super-Pets, Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King); 296th 600+ opener since 2015’s Jurassic World.
Opened similar to 2024’s Migration (£3,577,676); 2019’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 (£3,490,598); 2013’s Monsters University (£3,463,917); 2018’s Hotel Transylvania 3 (£3,449,876); 2024’s The Wild Robot (£3,256,572) and 1995’s Toy Story (£3,387,160) and 2001’s Shrek (£3,179,558).
2021’s Space Jam: A New Legacy opened £1,363,556/£1,452,405 taking £12,856,288/£13,693,998
1997’s Space Jam opened £1,467,506/£2,888,138 taking £11,648,511/£22,924,957
Putting Goat’s opening into perspective, it opened similarly to 2020’s Onward, £3,419,500/£3,793,656 (including £800,000 previews), taking £7,308,920/£8,108,649 COVID affected at the time was the lowest Pixar opening in the UK.
Being the only major family film on release for half-term, it will take about £3.5m Mon-Thurs (could be #1 Tues-Thurs), and take about £2m next weekend. Over the last decade, there used to be at least two-family films opening ahead of the February half-term, but there has been a lack of major animated films released over the last 6 months why Zootropolis 2 is still holding strongly in cinemas in its twelfth weekend despite being available to watch at home.
The next major animated film is Hopper’s opening in three weeks from Pixar, and then have Toy Story 5Vs Minions 3 opening only two weeks apart in June/July.
- 3. Crime 101 – £1,408,041 – NE
Includes £136,866 from previews.
Took £296k 23.38% Friday; £604k 47.71% Saturday; £366k 28.91% Sunday.
1,318th biggest opening between The Time Traveller’s Wife and Jackie Brown (close to The Firm, The Rock, Under Siege and Phone Booth) and 1,955th biggest inflated opening between Transcendence and The Big Short (close to The Score, Seven Psychopaths, The Game and Dead Again).
42nd biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between The Salt Road and Ballerina (close to The Bad Guys 2, Send Help, Marty Supreme, and Deliver Me From Nowhere).
605th widest opening in 523 cinemas similar to Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Da Vinci Code, The Lady in the Van and Gemini Man; 763rd 500+ opener since 2002’s Monsters, Inc.
1996’s Heat opened £1,624,316/£3,516,425 taking £9,717,993/£21,038,142
One critic said, “The interplay between thief and detective (not to mention the LA setting) has already seen it earn comparisons to Michael Mann’s Heat”. Another critic says director Bart Layton shows “the style and vision of a Michael Mann.
1999’s Entrapment opened £1,374,600/£2,615,332 taking £5,770,948/£10,979,880
2004’s Collateral opened £2,238,200/£3,992,869 taking £8,192,302/£14,614,775
1999’s The Thomas Crown Affair opened £916,452/£1,743,653 taking £5,752,380/£10,944,552
As one critic put it: “The real heist of Crime 101 is an old one: If you’re going to steal, steal from the best.”
Crime 101 is interesting in that it knows it’s standing on the shoulders of giants. The characters discuss The Thomas Crown Affair. Director Bart Layton told Mashable, “You’re always looking for a way to smuggle in the layers. Crime capers or especially the structure of a heist film is great because you’re kind of positing a question at the beginning that an audience knows they’re not getting the answer to until like the third act.”
Following on from Amazon/MGM’s Mercy, (opened in January), it feels like their approach to making original films is using an algorithm/Moneyball approach, having a high concept idea and then add recognisable cast, and what you get is a 90s style film that now finds a much wider audience on streaming as seen by films like Carry-On and Heart of Stone, but sometimes this works as seen by the critical reaction to Crime 101 and the good opening.
Crime 101 has an ensemble cast including Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte, and Halle Berry. Directed by Bart Layton, previously directed 2018’s American Animals, also starring Barry Keoghan and based on the 2020 novella by Don Winslow, his other novellas made into films include 2010’s Savages and 2005’a The Power of the Dog and 2007’s The Death and Life of Bobby Z.
- 4. Send Help £790,136 – £3,060,548
Dropped 50..4% in its second weekend (41% without previews)
£182k 23.13% (-51.34% £374k) Fri; £393k 49.9% (-30.9% £569k) Sat; £212k 26.94% (-46.73% 398k) Sun
1,441st biggest second weekend between Lawless and Racing Stripes (close to Die Hard 2 Die Harder, Gangster Squad, Natural Born Killers and The Island) and 2,008th biggest inflated second weekend between Operation Mincemeat and Bulletproof Monk (close to The Craft (1996), Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Land of the Dead and From Dusk Till Dawn).
41st biggest second weekend over the last 52 weeks between Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie and Elio (close to Regretting You, The Amateur, Black Bag and The Running Man).
101st biggest horror second weekend between Paranormal Activity 4 and The Wolfman (close to The Faculty, Speak No Evil, Halloween Kills, and Annabelle Comes Home) and 146th biggest inflated horror second weekend between Freddy vs. Jason and Underworld: Awakening (close to Poltergeist (2015), The Craft (1996), From Dusk Till Dawn and The Frighteners).
On the surface, The Housemaid, Send Help, and Wuthering Heights look unrelated. Different tones, different audiences, different marketing hooks. But underneath, there’s a connective current: women navigating, resisting or surviving male control, physical, emotional, psychological.
While Rachel McAdams is best known for starring in comedies like Mean Girls (2004), Wedding Crashes, Game Night, along with The Notebook and Spotlight, she also starred in the similarly tense psychological thriller Red Eye in 2005, directed by Wes Craven (dropped 29.8% £625,686/£1,064,065 and £2,067,895 of £3,414,662/£5,807,100).
Send Help is Sam Raimi’s first horror film since 2009’s Drag Me to Hell (dropped 32.6% £1,286,263/£1,893,928 taking £4,073,547 of £6,332,690/£9,324,420).
2013’s Evil Dead dropped 60.9% £538,466/£660,507 and £2,560,331 of £3,355,676/£4,116,227 and 2021’s Evil Dead Rises (dropped 28.3% £1,059,777 and £3,356,627 of £5,288,972).
144th biggest horror between Doctor Sleep and Pet Sematary (2019) (close to Unfriended, The Possession, Witches of Eastwick and The Monkey) and 185th biggest inflated horror between Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones and Mimic (close to Poltergeist III, Dreamcatcher, Happy Death Day and Psycho (1999).
The film was originally developed at Sony Pictures in 2019, described as “Misery meets Cast Away” The trailer starts with Rachel’s character being mistreated by her boss, but then the tables are reversed when their plane crashes and they land on an island. The film moved to 20th Century Studios in 2024 after Sony Pictures had plans to release it straight to streaming, as it was due to be made soon after COVID.
- 5. The Housemaid £554,454 – £31,102,040
Down 40.3% in the eighth weekend
74th biggest eighth weekend between The Bodyguard and Peter Rabbit 2 (close to Crocodile Dundee, Barbie, The Hangover and Joker) and 154th biggest inflated eighth weekend between Saving Private Ryan and What Lies Beneath (close to Mission Impossible, Inception, The Dark Knight and Liar Liar).
Despite both The Housemaid and Zootropolis 2 being released on PVOD two weeks ago, both films held well in cinemas, showing that if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema, they will go to the cinema to see it, showing exhibitors’ anger over shortened have no value and is just an excuse.
When a film still feels culturally present, the big screen remains the premium expression of that moment. This is the same principle driving creator-led releases and fandom events: platforms may own libraries, but the winners increasingly own attention. And attention, not exclusivity, is what moves tickets.
The Housemaid has become Paul Feig’s biggest film ahead of Bridesmaids (£23.05m). It is also Sydney Sweeney’s biggest film in the UK, ahead of Anyone But You (£11.71m) and has overtaken It Ends With Us (£21.91m), Gone Girl (£22.61m), Fifty Shades Darker (£23.15m) and The Girl On The Train (£24.01m).
The Housemaid had a similar eighth weekend as Inside Out, Shrek, Moana 2, Bohemian Rhapsody, Les Misérables, Notting Hill, Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2 and Oppenheimer.
Eighth weekends
2014’s Gone Girl dropped 61.8% £173,517/£187,567 and £21,945,199 of £22.61m/£26,365,105
2000’s What Lies Beneath dropped 28.7% £293,886/£553,889 and £11,033,873 of £13,827,135/ £26,060,083
1992’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle dropped 39.2% £143,475/£358,017 and £5,523,299 of £5,950,847/£14,682,464
1988’s Fatal Attraction dropped 19.2% £304,661/£1,061,015 and £12,188,304 of £15,441,564/£53,172,690
While 2011’s Bridesmaids dropped 38.4% £332,171/£439,058 and £22,318,130 of £23,050,000/£30,467,079
The Housemaid continues to hold similar to 2012’s Life of Pi (opened the same day 13 years earlier), dropped 45.5% £462,559/£581,648 and £28,098,112 of £28,726,668/£34,859,834.
2018’s A Simple Favour took £4,930,383; 2016’s The Girl on the Train took £24.1m
8th biggest 2025 between Zootropolis 2 and Superman (close to Jurassic World Rebirth, Mission Impossible 8, The Fantastic Four and How To Train Your Dragon).
The 2nd biggest Lionsgate film between The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. Had The Housemaid had IMAX/PLF screens, it would have topped Catching Fire.
153rd biggest between Shrek Forever After and Thor: Ragnarok (close to Gladiator, Slumdog Millionaire, Notting Hill and War of the Worlds) and 319th biggest inflated between Star Trek and Monsters vs. Aliens (close to There’s Something About Mary, A Fish Called Wanda, About A Boy and The Living Daylights).
Following on from The Housemaid, Hamnet, Send Help and Wuthering Heights, the next female-targeted film is Scream 7 at the end of the month and The Bride at the start of March. With legacy sequels (The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Practical Magic 2), comic book (Supergirl), fantasy (Narnia and The Hunger Games) and period pieces (Sense and Sensibility).
Upcoming from Lionsgate this year includes boxing drama Wasteman this weekend, which is unlikely to find an audience, Glenrothan, directed by Brian Cox, Power Ballad, directed by John Carney (Once/Begin Again) in May and then The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping in November.
The Housemaid has taken more than It Ends With Us ($350m) worldwide taking $360.9m; $235.3m internationally and $125.6m US; 455th biggest worldwide between The World is Not Enough and Fast & Furious (close to Ocean’s Twelve, The Hangover 3, American Beauty and Catch Me if You Can); 18h biggest thriller worldwide between Gone Girl and The Fugitive (close to Prometheus, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction $320.1m).
—-
BO is currently 9% ahead of 2025; January BO was about £106m with about 13.2m admissions.
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £15,414,193, up 121.8% from last weekend’s £6,948,068: x admissions, up x% from 818,818 admissions.
12th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 25 July 2025 #1 The Fantastic Four – First Steps £8,144,593 (51.69%) and 21 February 2025 #1 Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy £6,893,703 (45.55%)
38th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 274 weeks between 11 November 2022 #1 Black Panther Wakanda Forever £12,363,870 (79.91%) and 21 February 2025 #1 Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy £6,893,703 (45.55%)
222nd biggest top 10 of the last 24 years (out of 1,245) between 30 November 2018 #1 Ralph Breaks the Internet £4,032,775 (26.15%) and 26 November 2004 #1 The Incredibles £9,753,035 (63.30%) and 468th biggest inflated between 10 January 2014 #1 12 Years a Slave £2,511,349 (19.41%) and 03 October 2003 #1 Bad Boys 2 £3,175,258 (37.20%)
The top 3 took £12,573,113 (81.6%) of the top 10; Wuthering Heights 49.7% (£7,665,295); Goat 22.7% (£3,499,777); Crime 101 9.13% (£1,408,041)
293rd biggest percentage share #1 (49.73%) between 28 July 2023 #1 Barbie £13,226,848 (49.75%) and 31 December 2021 #1 Spider-Man No Way Home £6,055,345 (49.61%)
303rd biggest admissions (956,966) between 14 July 2017 #1 War for the Planet of the Apes £7,195,773 (960,717) and 14 April 2023 #1 Super Mario Bros £7,568,523 (955,622)
Down 32.57% from 2025; (£22,858,608); Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (£12,298,966); Captain America: Brave New World (£6,404,345); Heart Eyes (£710,234); #1 Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy £12,298,966 727 screens 1st week (53.8% of top 10)
Up 4.57% from 2024; (£14,740,526); Bob Marley: One Love (£6,950,773) Madame Web (£2,273,544); The Taste Of Things (£235,241); Les Miserables (2024 Re-Issue (£169,006); #1 Bob Marley: One Love £6,950,773 1st week 688 screens (47.15%of top 10)
Up 4.00% from 2023; (£14,821,149); Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (£8,834,435); Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (£141,454); The Son (£48,251); #1 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania £8,834,435 1st week 676 screens (59.61% of top 10)
Up 32.15% 2022 (£11,663,829); Dog (£822,123); #1 Uncharted £3,775,360 2nd week 19% drop 630 screens (32.37% of top 10)
2021 Lockdown
Down 6.8% 2020; (£16,539,141); Sonic The Hedgehog (£4,733,768); Emma (£1,635,797); Ghost (30th Anniversary) (£78,805); The Lost Boys (Re: 2020) (£61,613); #1 Sonic The Hedgehog £4,733,768 1st week 619 screens (28.6% of the top 10)
Up 38.66% from 2019: (£11,116,499); Instant Family (£2,469,853); Happy Death Day 2U (£735,454); The Kid Who Would be King (£666,749); A Private War (£223,438); Notting Hill (20th Anniversary) (£1,125); #1 The LEGO Movie 2 £2,472,489 2nd week 652 screens 38% drop (22.2% of top 10)
Down 47.07% from 2018; (£29,122,391); Black Panther (£17,700,000); The Shape of Water (£2,466,217); Father Figures (£250,465); Lady Bird (limited) (£184,254); #1 Black Panther £17,700,000 1st week 585 screens (60.8% of top 10)
Down 14.70% 2017: (£18,070,709); John Wick: Chapter Two (£2,232,055); The Great Wall (£1,646,516); Hidden Figures (£1,448,214); Moonlight (£621,836); Fences (expansion) (£378,351); Moulin Rouge! (Secret Cinema 2017) (£376,900); The Founder (£231,716); Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical (£107,496); #1 The LEGO Batman Movie £4,435,521 2nd week 618 screens 44% drop (24.5% of top 10)
Down 4.98% 2016: (£16,221,692); How To Be Single (£1,876,539); Triple 9 (£812,619); The Finest Hours (£247,643); #1 Deadpool £5,694,280 2nd week 571 screens 59% drop (35.1% of top 10)
Down 30.10% 2015; (£22,051,391); Fifty Shades of Grey (£13,550,290); Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots (£687,417); Love is Strange (£99,755); Grease Sing-along (Re: 2015) (£10,694); #1 Fifty Shades of Grey £13,550,290 1st week 586 screens (61.4% of top 10)
Down 12.63% 2014: (£17,643,201); The Lego Movie (£8,051,140); The Monuments Men (£1,616,625); Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy (£966,920); Cuban Fury (£966,276); Endless Love (£744,867); Her (£449,307); The Book Thief (limited) (£16,795); Sleepless in Seattle (Re: 2014) (£19,492); #1 The Lego Movie £8,051,140 1st week 547 screens (45.6% of top 10)
Up 2.19% 2013: (£15,084,507); A Good Day to Die Hard (£4,551,116); This is 40 (£1,229,352); Beautiful Creatures (£1,109,167); Sammy’s Great Escape (£519,049); #1 A Good Day to Die Hard £4,551,116 1st week 484 screens (30.2% of top 10)
Up 13.21% 2012: (£13,615,154); Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (£1,340,000); Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (£372,205); #1 The Woman in Black £3,501,601 2nd week 433 screens 11% up (25% of top 10)
Down 11.88% 2011; (£17,491,609); Paul (£5,517,121); Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (£1,433,778); Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (£820,592); Inside Job (£70,375); #1 Paul £5,517,121 1st week 429 screens (31.5% of top 10)
Up 24.92% 2010: (£12,339,641); The Lovely Bones (£1,637,579); Solomon Kane (£611,886); Crazy Heart (£102,917); #1 Avatar £2,817,009 10th week (9 weeks #1 with week gap) 391 screens (22.8% of top 10)
Down 6.38% 2009; (£16,464,180); Bolt (£5,457,438); Hotel for Dogs (£1,500,298); Friday the 13th (£1,198,653); Notorious (£1,119,587); Pink Panther 2 (£821,726); Under the Sea 3D (£21,357); #1 Bolt £5,457,438 1st week 496 screens (33.1% of top 10)
Up 57.01% 2008; (£9,817,133); Jumper (£3,068,803); The Bucket List (£602,248); There Will Be Blood – expansion (£540,472); All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (£103,084); #1 Jumper £3,068,803 1st week 406 screens (32.2% of top 10)
Up 17.92% 2007: (£13,071,799); Hot Fuzz (£5,918,149); Because I Said So (£400,987); The Science of Sleep (£130,139); Casablanca (re:06) (£29,446); #1 Hot Fuzz £5,918,149 1st week 427 screens (45.3% of top 10)
Up 76.36% 2006; (£8,740,291); Casanova (£550,775); Aeon Flux (£512,426); Good Night, and Good Luck (£405,200); #1 Chicken Little £2,184,760 2nd week 515 screens 31% drop (25% of top 10)
Up 54.43% 2005: (£9,981,514); Shall We Dance? (£1,080,140); Are We There Yet? (£887,814); In Good Company (£594,316); #1 Meet the Fockers £1,893,131 4th week 454 screens 36 drops (18.9% of top 10)
Up 65.34% 2004; (£9,322,973); Cheaper by the Dozen (£1,817,148); The Haunted Mansion (£1,677,927); Looney Tunes: Back in Action (£926,447); Tooth (£209,049); #1 Cheaper by the Dozen £1,817,148 1st week 364 screens (19.5% of top 10)
Up 46.79% 2003 (£10,500,986); Daredevil (£1,953,136); Treasure Planet (£888,084); The Hours (£616,573); Undercover Brother (£235,527); #1 Two Weeks’ Notice £2,189,331 2nd week 416 screens 17% drop (20.8% of top 10)
Up 3.12% from 2002: (£14,947,751); Ocean’s Eleven (£5,095,062); Ali (limited) (£125,573); #1 Monsters, Inc. £5,757,712 2nd week 504 screens 37% drop (38.5% of top 10)
2025 Next week: (£15,135,253); The Monkey (£1,070,404); I’m Still Here (£486,391); The Importance Of Being Earnest – NT Live 2025 (£341,209); #1 Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy £6,893,703 734 screens 2nd weekend (45.55% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Wuthering Heights – Warner Bros
Opened $32.8m; received mixed reviews (65% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore
Took $3m from Thursday previews; Fifty Shades of Grey $8.6m; It Ends With Us $7m; The Great Gatsby $3.25m; The Housemaid $2.3m.
Presales were strong, taking $14m (55% of the audience), but according to reports, walk-ups were an issue; Friday’s audience was 54% female between 18-34; 22% were couples; The 18-34 Euphoria was 63% and over 45 21% showing that younger audiences were attracted by the marketing and the music.
IMAX/PLF, Dolby Cinema, drive-ins and dine-Ins performed strongly; 3`% came from IMAX/PLF
589th biggest opening between X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The Book of Eli (close to Hustlers, A Wrinkle in Time, The Maze Runner and Immortals).
A year ago, Universal chose to send Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy straight to Peacock in the US, acknowledging a familiar reality: some British cultural touchstones travel globally but resonate locally. Bridget Jones remains a major cinema brand in the UK, yet in America it plays more as niche comfort viewing than event moviegoing.
Wuthering Heights sits in a similar cultural position. While taught across the English-speaking world, it is far more embedded in Britain’s identity than in the US. In the UK, Heathcliff isn’t simply a literary figure; he’s a national mood — part landscape, part adolescence, part shared reference point.
Kate Bush’s 1978 hit didn’t just reference the novel; it amplified that connection. Singing from Catherine’s perspective, her performance pulled the story out of the classroom and into everyday culture, stamping the moors into British pop memory in a way education alone never could.
For American audiences, the material carries prestige; for British audiences it carries ownership. That distinction doesn’t necessarily determine whether a film releases theatrically, but it does shape expectations — overseas a gothic romance, at home a piece of cultural inheritance.
Wuthering Heights is a big step up from Emerald Fennell’s previous two films, 2020’s Promising Young Woman was COVID affected opened $719,305, taking $12.39m and $18.85m worldwide; 2023’s Saltburn opened $2.84m after platform, taking $11.42m and $21.02m worldwide.
11 years ago, Fifty Shades of Grey opened $85.17m, taking $166.16m and $569.65m worldwide; Wuthering Heights opened closer to the third film, 2017’s Fifty Shades Freed $38.56m, taking $100.4m and $371.98m worldwide. Wuthering Heights will have more in common with 50 Shades of Grey in its second weekend, as it will drop 60% after receiving a B CinemaScore and mixed word of mouth.
Promising Young Woman received critical acclaim, was nominated for five Oscars, winning Best Original Screenplay and received six BAFTA nominations, winning Best Original Screenplay and Best British Film.
Ahead of the opening of Wuthering Heights, Deadline had an interview with Warner Bros bosses Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, and they talked about their director-first philosophy: “For us it’s always about the filmmakers and the audience.” Mission statement: “This was David Zaslav’s strategy from the beginning of restoring Warner Bros to its days of glory, being the home for the world’s best filmmakers.” Auteur recruitment “We’re going to bet on original films; we’re going to bring the best storytellers back to Warner Bros.” Risk justified by director pedigree “There’s no crystal ball. You go with your gut. The only hedge in this business… is trying to work with the most talented filmmakers.”
Margot Robbie might have come off from last yeas flop A Big Bold Beautiful Journey opening $3.25m taking $6.67m and $22.36m worldwide, but the reason for the disappointing opening didn’t have anything to do with Margot it was just that it wasn’t the Wuthering Heights the marketing made it out to be as its marketing was targetting It Ends with Us but Emerald Fennell was targetting a much younger demographic.
The social media universe for Wuthering Heights has been massive with 381.2m across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, above It Ends with Us 337.4m and far more than Saltburn ‘s 213.9m. While Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi don’t do social, Wuthering Heights had many other social connections, including Charli XxX on the soundtrack, which makes you think of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet and The Great Gatsby period films, but with modern day soundtrack.
1996’s Romeo + Juliet opened $11.13m/$28m taking $46.4m/$117m and $147.6m/$370m WW
2013’s The Great Gatsby opened $50.08m/$70.9m taking $144.8m/$205.1m and $353.7m/$501m WW
While recent period romance films include
2019’s Little Women opened $16.75m, taking $108.1m and $20.1m worldwide
2005’s Pride And Prejudice opened $2.8m/$5.2m taking $38.4m/$69m and $128.6m/$230.9m WW
1996’s Sense and Sensibility had a platform opening and a slow expansion, taking $43.2m
Emily Bronte adaptions having been as successful as those of other period female writers like Jane Austen, with adaptations including several other Wuthering Heights films and Jane Eyre
2020’s Emma was affected by COVID, expanding with $4.8m after two weeks limited release, but cinemas closed a week afterwards due to COVID taking $10.1m and $26.31m worldwide
Ahead of opening, Wuthering Heights was expected to open with $80m worldwide, with $40m-$50m expected to open over 4 days in the US and another $30m internationally from 11,600 screens and over 18,000 worldwide.
Opened $42m internationally from 79 territories and $76.8m worldwide; UK $10.3m; Italy $4.4m; Australis $4.3m and Mexico $3.3m
- Goat – Sony Pictures
Opened $27.2m; received positive reviews (79% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore
Took $1m from Thursday previews.
Took 8% from PLF and 13% from 3D screens.
Opened similar to 2022’s The Bad Guys, $23.95m, taking $97.45m and $250.38m worldwide, and 2025’s Elio, $20.84m, taking $72.98m and $154.29m worldwide.
There has been a lack of family films since Zootopia 2 opened at Thanksgiving, which should have seen Goat opening bigger, but original animated films have struggled over recent years.
Social media universe 386.3m, 22% ahead of original animation films and ahead of The Bad Guys (212.8m), Pixar’s Elemental (301.3m) and Elio (272.5m). Comparisons have been made with Across the Spider-Verse, Surf’s Up, Zootopia and Space Jam.
Opened $15.6m internationally in 50 territories, including the UK $4.8m and Mexico $1.8m
- Crime 101 – Amazon/MGM
Opened $14.25m; received positive reviews (89% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore
Took $1m from Thursday previews; Den of Thieves: Pantera ($1.35m; A Working Man $1.1m; The Beekeeper $2.4m.
Crime 101 is a heist film with a strong watchable cast that critics have described as a ripoff of 1995’s Heat, but not in a bad way, as it’s a very cinematic film.
IMAX/PLF took 25% of BO; 25-34 27%; over 45 43%; Couples 44%.
1995’s Heat opened $8.44m/$21.99m taking $67.43m/$175.7m and $187.5m/$489m worldwide
While analysts compared it to more high-concept Jason Statham action films, including 2024’s The Beekeeper, opening $16.57m, taking $66.22m and $162.61m worldwide, and 2025’s A Working Man, $15.51m, taking $37m and $89.4m. But Crime 101 is a cut above these action films.
Other similar heist films include.
2004’s Collateral opened $24.7m, taking $101m and $220.24m worldwide
1999’s The Thomas Crown Affair opened $14.6m, taking $69.3m and $124.3m worldwide; MGM are currently making a reboot directed by Michael B. Jordan, starring Michael B. Jordan, Adria Arjona, Lily Gladstone, Aubrey Plaza and Kenneth Branagh.
1999’s Entrapment opened $20.14m, taking $87.7m and $212/4m worldwide
At $90 million, Crime 101 faces a steep climb to theatrical profitability; its needs around $225 million worldwide to break even. But for Amazon/MGM, the math is different. Theatrical releases are loss-leaders for streaming prestige, building awareness for films that will live forever on Prime Video. Crime 101 is exactly the kind of mid-budget adult drama that used to dominate multiplexes 30 years ago; now it’s a streaming anchor with a brief theatrical window.
There was a mix of films last weekend, with Wuthering Heights for the female audience, Goat for families and children and Crime 101 for males and couples.
Opened with $11.9m internationally; UK $2m; Australia $1.4m.
- Send Help – 20th Century Studios.
Dropped 3% in its third weekend, $8.88m and $47.81m
872nd biggest third weekend between Julie & Julia and Eraser (close to Sleepy Hollow, Fury, Halloween Kills and Baby Driver).
Similar films include Sam Raimi’s underrated 1998 film A Simple Plan, which flopped at the box office, finding an audience on home video.
2013’s Evil Dead dropped 56.7% $4.11m and $48.45m of $54.23 m and $97.54m worldwide
2016’s The Shallows dropped 45.3% $4.8m and $45.82m of $55.12m and $119.1m worldwide
2009’s Drag Me to Hell dropped 44.1% $3.93m and $35.21m of $42.1m and $90.84m worldwide
While Rachel McAdams starred in Wes Craven’s 2005 horror Red Eye dropped 26% $7.61m and $43.69m of $57.89m and $96.25m worldwide.
Took $3.8m internationally from 51 territories, $24.2m total and $72.1m worldwide; UK $2.2m
- Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die – Briarcliff Entertainment
Opened $3.64m; received positive reviews (85% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore
Took $450k from Thursday previews.
15% from PLF screens; 18-34% was 52% of the audience.
It’s Gore Verbinski’s first film since he directed 2016’s A Cure for Wellness he directed since The Lone Ranger. In 2013, The Lone Ranger was seen as a flop, opened $29.29m/$41.4m, taking $89.3m/$126.5m and $260.5m/$369m worldwide. Films taking less than their inflated BO 13 years later have been seen as hits as the industry has lowered expectations.
Gore Verbinski previously directed 1997’s Mouse Hunt, 2001’s The Mexican, 2002’s The Ring, 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2005’s The Weather Man, 2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and 2011’s Rango.
Gore Verbinski said it was a struggle to make the $20m film as it was rejected by all of the studios and lost independent financing three times. The film was financed by selling global rights, with Briarcliff acquiring US rights.
A high concept title like Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die can be a massive asset for a film like Cocaine Bear, the title tells you everything you need to know without telling you anything. It’s similar to Cold Storage, which also opened last weekend, taking much less, $1.1m, again it had a very quirky trailer, but the title told you very little.
The simultaneous release of two tonally similar, quirky films certainly cannibalised each other’s audience, and the looming threat of a quick VOD window kept many potential ticket buyers at home. It’s like they gave these two films a cinema release in a similar way distributors would give films a one-week cinema release in the 80s and 90s, so they could put on the rental video poster had a nationwide cinema release.
When a studio has a massive flop, the actors quickly move on, as does the studio, but it’s the director who takes the blame and struggles to make another film, as was also the case with Andrew Stanton, who directed several Pixar films, including the upcoming Toy Story 5, but his two live-action films, 2012’s John Carter and 2025’s In the Blink of an Eye made three years ago premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January and is being released straight to streaming after being made for a cinema release.
UK Box Office Top 10
Box Office Preview
Wuthering Heights will hold #1 in its second weekend but likely drop 45%-55% taking £3m-£3.8m having a slightly lower second weekend drop, 2015’s 50 Shades of Grey had down 66.1%, £4,597,092/£5,107,172 and £25,242,636 72.8% of £34,662,255/£38,508,275; but similar to 2017’s Fifty Shades Darker dropped 54.5% £3,437,448/£3,676,096 and £16,712,705 73.6% of £22,694,878/£24,270,490
Last year, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy dropped 44% £6,893,703 and £27,341,739, 59% of £46,367,473
Goat will hold #2, having a lucrative half-term week, taking about £3.6m Mon-Thurs; taking about £2m in its second weekend, by next Sunday will have taken about £8m.
Crime 101 will hold third, dropping about 50% in its second weekend, taking about £750k-£900k.
Sci-fi virus comedy horror Cold Storage could open #4 with about £650k-£850k; writer David Koepp described it as “has everything I’d want to see in a movie; it’s scary, funny, exhilarating, surprising, and riotously entertaining”. This is certainly the case from the trailer. As is the case with the trailer for Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, in the US last weekend, both quirky films opened the same weekend and could cannibalise each other.
Brazilian thriller The Secret Agent finally opens this weekend, hoping to get a boost with the BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday, when it’s likely to win Best Foreign Film. MUBI are releasing it in the UK, and they normally release their films on about 200 screens, so likely to open about £300k.
If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You, Charli XCX’s Mockumentary The Moment, and Wasteman will struggle to find an audience.
Coming Soon
- The Bride! – Warner Bros
Gothic thriller starring Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Penélope Cruz and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, inspired by the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, based on the novel Frankenstein.
In 2023, the film was set at Netflix but moved to Warner Bros in 2024 due to budget concerns, and Warner Bros were eager to show themselves after the public falling out with Christopher Nolan. They wanted to make director-driven films like Joker: Folie à Deux, Mickey 17, Sinners, Weapons and One Battle After Another. In those films, Maggie Gyllenhaal had the final cut.
The Bride! Was originally due to be released in October 2025, but after having poor test screenings in early 2025, the $100m film was delayed to March 2026. There were reports that it was too arthouse and not enough horror. The film has been described as an R-rated “punk-rock” musical/thriller set in 1930s Chicago, which makes me think of films like the film Suckerpunch.
Had The Bride opened in October, it would have received its premiere at Venice/Toronto Film Festival, moving it to March would have expected it to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival if Warner had faith in the film; instead, it has a UK premiere on February 26th.
Jessie Buckley could follow in the footsteps of Halle Berry, Natalie Portman, Jamie Foxx and Sandra Bullock, winning Best Actress for Hamnet, and her next film was a flop. Halle Berry won for Monster’s Ball and next film: Catwoman, Natalie Portman won for Black Swan and then flop Your Highness, Jamie Foxx won for Ray, and then flop Stealth, and Sandra Bullock won for Blind Side and then won Razzie for All About Steve.
- Hoppers – Disney
Animated sci-fi comedy made by Pixar featuring the voices of Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco and Meryl Streep and directed by Daniel Chong.
Hoppers is Pixar’s 30th film since 1995’s Toy Story, but since 2020, Pixar has struggled with original films, with Onward, Elemental, Elio and Soul, Luca and Turning Red were released straight to Disney+.
2020’s Onward opened £3,419,500 taking £7,308,920/£8,108,649 (COVID)
2023’s Elemental opened £3,049,002 taking £18,151,466
2025’s Elio opened £971,168 taking £4,731,082
- Mother’s Pride – Entertainment Films
Comedy-drama starring Jonno Davies, Martin Clunes and James Buckley and directed by Nick Moorcroft. The film was described as a love letter to British pubs, as almost 2,000 pubs have closed in the UK over the last 5 years.
Playing to a similar audience as 2019’s Fisherman’s Friends, opening £1,154,865/£1,281,228 taking £7,380,488/£8,188,048