The global box office split into two sharply contrasting stories this weekend: China’s Lunar New Year corridor powered Pegasus 3 to a commanding surge, while Wuthering Heights cooled significantly following its strong opening frame.
During the Spring Festival period — the most lucrative theatrical window in China — Pegasus 3 accelerated to roughly RMB 806 million (about $117 million) in the domestic market since the start of the holiday frame, according to Maoyan tracking. With China accounting for the overwhelming majority of its earnings, the racing franchise entry has pushed its global tally into the low-to-mid $150 million range, depending on reporting cut and time window measured.
The Lunar New Year remains a uniquely powerful box office engine. The multi-day national holiday drives family attendance, extended play periods and concentrated screen allocation for domestic titles. Hollywood films typically avoid wide openings in this corridor, giving local productions prime positioning. That structural advantage once again translated into outsized returns, with Pegasus 3 benefiting from both franchise familiarity and broad demographic appeal.
Industry reporting indicates that the wider Chinese New Year marketplace generated multi-billion RMB totals across all titles during the holiday stretch, underscoring the scale of the seasonal surge. The window routinely delivers some of the highest per-day grosses of the year in China, and 2026 appears to be continuing that pattern.
Premium formats also played a supporting role. IMAX reported approximately $28 million at the China box office over the New Year weekend across titles, highlighting the contribution of large-format screens to the overall haul. While IMAX accounts for a relatively small percentage of total screens, its higher per-screen averages provide incremental revenue boosts for major tentpoles like Pegasus 3.
Globally, the film’s revenue profile illustrates a continuing trend in which Chinese titles can reach top-tier worldwide rankings largely on the strength of domestic performance alone. With minimal reliance on North America or Europe, locally targeted releases are increasingly shaping global charts.
By contrast, Warner Bros.’ Wuthering Heights experienced a more traditional second-weekend correction. After opening strongly in Western markets, the period romance fell approximately 48% in its sophomore frame, with some territories registering drops in the mid-50% range. The decline brought its worldwide cumulative total to around $150–152 million at this stage of release, with roughly $60 million from North America and just over $90 million from international markets.
While a near-50% drop is not catastrophic by contemporary standards, it reflects the volatility facing adult-skewing prestige dramas. Unlike franchise entries or family event films, literary adaptations tend to be more front-loaded, especially in crowded release corridors. Competition from holiday-driven titles in Asia and genre fare in Western markets further limited Wuthering Heights’ ability to hold screens and momentum.
The juxtaposition between the two films highlights diverging box office mechanics across territories. In China, the Spring Festival window concentrates attendance and privileges local productions, often producing massive multi-day surges that can define a film’s entire commercial trajectory. In Western markets, however, sustainability beyond opening weekend remains a central challenge, particularly for adult dramas without built-in franchise engines.
Timing continues to be decisive. For Pegasus 3, the Lunar New Year slot delivered optimal audience aggregation and repeat viewing potential. For Wuthering Heights, the absence of a similar concentrated holiday boost meant reliance on conventional week-to-week retention — a steeper climb in today’s fragmented theatrical landscape.
As the market moves beyond the New Year bubble, attention will turn to whether Pegasus 3 can maintain velocity once holiday attendance normalizes, and whether Wuthering Heights can stabilize internationally to extend its run.
For now, the global box office narrative is clear: China’s holiday calendar remains one of the most powerful forces shaping worldwide rankings, while Western prestige titles continue to face sharper post-debut volatility.
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