Valentine’s Day weekend delivered a steady — if not explosive — Presidents’ Day frame at the U.S. box office, led by Warner Bros.’ literary romance gamble Wuthering Heights, which opened to $34.8 million over the three-day weekend from 3,682 theaters as predicted by experts and is tracking toward roughly $40 million across the four-day holiday stretch. While some rivals peg the extended total closer to $35 million, the R-rated adaptation still secured the No. 1 spot and marked another win in Warner Bros.’ remarkable streak of nine consecutive chart-toppers.
Directed by Emerald Fennell and starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, the film leaned heavily into its steamy, prestige positioning and played as the clear Valentine’s Day choice for adult women, who made up over 75% of the audience. Internationally, the picture launched even stronger with $42 million from 76 markets, bringing its global debut to $82 million against an $80 million production budget (excluding marketing). That overseas strength will be crucial, especially given its “B” CinemaScore — a solid but not glowing audience response that suggests word-of-mouth will determine its legs in the coming weeks.
In second place, Sony Pictures Animation’s original sports adventure GOAT opened to $26 million across 3,862 locations, with a projected $32 million four-day haul. Overseas, it added $15.6 million from 42 markets, pushing its worldwide total to $47.6 million. Produced for $80 million, the Steph Curry-backed animated feature arrives at a time when launching original animation has become increasingly difficult, even for major studios. However, its “A” CinemaScore — driven largely by family audiences — positions it for potential slow-burn endurance similar to recent animated success stories that opened modestly but sustained through strong holds. With no major kid-friendly competition until Pixar’s Hoppers in March, GOAT has room to play.
Amazon MGM’s Crime 101 debuted in third with $15.1 million over the weekend and an estimated $17.7 million through Monday, though rival estimates place the four-day figure slightly lower. International markets contributed $12 million, bringing its global launch to just under $30 million. Directed by Bart Layton and starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Barry Keoghan, the R-rated heist thriller carries a hefty $90 million production price tag. While Amazon has publicly maintained that theatrical isn’t required to fully recoup production costs — instead using cinemas to amplify streaming performance — industry observers remain skeptical about sustainability at that scale. A “B” CinemaScore signals respectable but muted audience enthusiasm, making long-term legs critical.
Fourth place went to 20th Century Studios’ survival thriller Send Help, which added $9 million over the three-day weekend and approximately $10.7 million across the holiday frame. After three weekends in release — including two at No. 1 — the film has now grossed $48 million domestically and $72 million worldwide against a $40 million budget. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien’s well-reviewed thriller continues to demonstrate the value of mid-budget genre filmmaking, and its performance has helped push Disney past the $1 billion mark globally in 2026 — the first studio to do so this year.
Rounding out the Top Five, Angel Studios’ romantic comedy Solo Mio earned $6.2 million over the weekend and an estimated $7.8 million through Monday, bringing its domestic total to $18 million after two weekends. The PG-rated Kevin James-led comedy continues to benefit from counterprogramming appeal among older audiences.
Outside the top five, Zootopia 2 added $3.76 million in its twelfth weekend, pushing its domestic total to a commanding $419.3 million. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die opened with $3.62 million from 1,610 theatres, a modest start for the sci-fi comedy backed by Briarcliff Entertainment. Iron Lung followed with $3.48 million, though it experienced a sharp 49% drop in its third frame, signaling frontloaded demand. James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash continued its long run with $3.32 million, lifting its domestic haul to $396 million. Rounding out the top ten, Dracula collected $3 million in its second weekend, while The Strangers: Chapter 3 and specialty title Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie also contributed to the broader marketplace, the latter posting a strong per-theatre average from just 365 screens.
In limited release, Neon’s mockumentary Nirvanna: The Band The Show The Movie posted one of the strongest per-screen averages of the frame, earning $1.2 million from just 365 screens over the three-day weekend and roughly $1.4 million through Monday — signaling strong specialty demand.
Overall, domestic revenues are tracking roughly 8% ahead of the same period last year, though comparisons are slightly skewed by the absence of a Marvel-sized President’s Day debut this time around. Instead of one tentpole dominating the frame, the market benefited from diversified counterprogramming: a prestige romance, family animation, adult thriller, horror holdover, and faith-friendly comedy all coexisted within the top ten.
The key takeaway from this weekend is not explosive growth but stability. Wuthering Heights proved that adult-skewing romance can still anchor a holiday corridor when positioned as an event. GOAT demonstrated that original animation remains viable with strong audience scores and limited competition. Meanwhile, Crime 101 will test whether mid-budget adult thrillers can thrive theatrically in an era increasingly shaped by streaming calculus.
Looking ahead, the market faces an important transitional period. Paramount’s Scream 7 is expected to reignite franchise horror momentum, while Pixar’s Hoppers aims to test whether original animation can sustain theatrical legs. Warner Bros. will follow with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s gothic spectacle The Bride!, and Universal and Illumination are positioning The Super Mario Galaxy Movie as a potential spring juggernaut. On the adult side, Amazon MGM’s ambitious sci-fi epic Project Hail Mary looms as a key theatrical-to-streaming test case.
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