Box Office: 'GOAT' Unseats 'Wuthering Heights' in a Close Race for the Top Spot
'GOAT' (https://variety.com/t/goat/), an animated film about an animal's athletic dreams, dominated the box office during a slow winter weekend, dethroning the previously top-ranking 'Wuthering Heights' (https://variety.com/t/wuthering-heights/) in a close race for the number one spot in North America. This marks a significant win for family-oriented films, especially in a post-pandemic era where the box office is still recovering.
Heading into late February, both 'GOAT' and 'Wuthering Heights' were neck and neck for the top position. However, 'GOAT' managed to pull ahead with an impressive $17 million from 3,863 theaters, a decline of only 36% from its opening weekend. 'Wuthering Heights', directed by Emerald Fennell, closely followed with $14.2 million from 3,682 venues, a 57% drop from its opening weekend. This first-place finish for 'GOAT' (especially over a gothic romantic drama featuring A-listers Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi) highlights the importance of family films for cinema operators at a time when the box office hasn't fully regained its pre-pandemic strength. In 2025, PG-rated films like 'Lilo & Stitch', 'Zootopia 2', and 'A Minecraft Movie' demonstrated remarkable endurance and ranked among the year's highest-grossing releases.
'GOAT' has so far earned $58.3 million domestically and $102 million worldwide, with a production budget of $80 million. Sony Pictures Animation is optimistic that the kid-friendly film will enjoy a similar endurance to recent original animated films like 'Elemental', 'The Wild Robot', and 'Migration', all of which managed to stick around in theaters for weeks after their debuts. In contrast, 'Wuthering Heights' has generated $59.5 million in North America, with a global tally of $151.7 million. Warner Bros. spent $80 million to produce the film, not including the tens of millions for the global promotional tour.
Three newcomers, including Lionsgate's faith-based 'I Can Only Imagine 2', Disney's New Regency road-trip thriller 'Psycho Killer', and A24's black comedy 'How to Make a Killing' with Glen Powell, struggled to make an impact. 'I Can Only Imagine 2' captured the No. 3 spot with $8 million from 3,105 venues, significantly behind its predecessor, 2018's surprise hit 'I Can Only Imagine'. Although the sequel was twice as expensive at $18 million, it's still a modest price tag that shouldn't be too difficult for the studio to recoup during its big-screen run. Plus, audiences awarded the film a rare 'A+' grade on CinemaScore exit polls. The original movie, which also scored an 'A+' grade, became a breakout for Lionsgate with $86 million worldwide against a $7 million budget.
'How to Make a Killing' debuted outside the top five, in sixth place with $3.5 million, but the R-rated comedic thriller is playing on just 1,600 screens. Directed by John Patton Ford ('Emily the Criminal'), the film stars Powell as a man who is disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family and will stop at nothing to reclaim his $28 billion inheritance. Critics did not like 'How to Make a Killing', which holds a 47% on Rotten Tomatoes.
At No. 11, 'Psycho Killer' cratered with $1.6 million from 1,100 theaters in its first weekend of release. The film, which hails from Disney's 20th Century and New Regency labels, landed behind 'Avatar: Fire and Ash', which earned $1.7 million in its 10th weekend on the big screen. 'Psycho Killer', which doesn't have an audience score but was saddled with a dismal 33% Rotten Tomatoes average, cost under $10 million to produce. Directed by former agent Gavin Polone in his feature debut, the movie follows a police officer (Georgina Campbell) on her mission to take down the serial killer known as the Satanic Slasher after he brutally murdered her state trooper husband.
Neon's concert film 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert' debuted well above 'Psycho Killer', in seventh place with $3.2 million, during its limited release on 325 Imax screens. Director Baz Luhrmann crafted the film from never-before-seen footage of the King of Rock and Roll that he discovered while making the 2022 Austin Butler-led 'Elvis' biopic. 'EPiC', which will expand in the coming weeks, is the only film in the top 10 that's playing on less than 1,000 screens.
'We're excited to see audiences connecting with 'EPiC'. It's a powerful testament to the enduring impact of the King,' said Neon's chief distribution officer Elissa Federoff. She pointed to the studio's partners, including Sony Music Vision and Imax, who 'helped deliver something deeply personal and undeniably cinematic - Elvis at his best, on the biggest screens possible'.
Overall revenues in North America are 5% of 2025's tally, according to Comscore - a percentage that keeps shrinking as winter wears on. 'The domestic box office would be a point or two higher if it weren't for the harsh weather during the last month, and another blizzard is arriving on the East Coast right now,' says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. However, 'there's a good opportunity to build momentum over the next six weeks'.
Moviegoing should heat up next weekend with 'Scream 7', followed by Disney's Pixar film 'Hoppers' and director Maggie Gyllenhaal's 'Frankenstein' spinoff 'The Bride!' in March. That's before Universal and Illumination's 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' is poised to deliver 2026's first major blockbuster in early April. Mario and Luigi to the rescue!
