Box Office Report for the Week of February 22

Looks like bad word of mouth has really hampered Wuthering Heights‘ chances of holding onto its top spot as the number one film of the weekend, as not many new releases this week inspired audiences to check them out. For example, Gavin Polone‘s Psycho Killer, which did not screen for the press anywhere and currently sits at 7% on Rotten Tomatoes (as someone who has seen it, it is very, very bad), didn’t even make the top 10 and bombed terribly, with a $1.6 million opening.

Because of this, GOAT took the opportunity to slam dunk to the top spot of the box office, adding $17 million to its $102 million global tally. It’s already become the highest-grossing original animated film since Coco, and seems to be on track to leg out just up until Pixar’s Hoppers releases, and could also do very well.

As far as new releases are concerned, Lionsgate’s I Can Only Imagine 2 is the biggest winner of the week, snagging $8 million in its opening tally. However, it is much lower than the first movie’s impressive $17 million opening, which saw the faith-based production make over $86 million worldwide on a $7 million budget! Considering how most audiences might not have clamored for a sequel, the tally might be much lower for the sequel.

In other movie-related news, John Patton Ford’s How to Make a Killing disappoints, earning just $3.5 million. Reviews might also have played a part in the film not hitting as much as it should, considering the impeccable, star-studded cast on display, including Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley, Topher Grace, and Ed Harris.

Meanwhile, Baz Luhrmann‘s EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert debuts an impressive platform release, with a $3.2 million tally in IMAX theatres only! The film’s wide release is next week, and you can expect it to make much (much) more by next weekend. The Elvis Presley fanbase has been foaming at the mouth at this film ever since its TIFF world premiere, and it could very well, when all is said and done, become NEON’s highest-grossing film. The reviews have been spectacular, and the experience of seeing it in a (packed) cinema is nothing short of electrifying. It’s almost like you’ve stepped into a party, with Elvis taking care of business…in a flash.

It’s what the movies are made of, as the kids say.

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. GOAT (Sony): $17.0M (-38%) – 3,863 theatres
2. Wuthering Heights (Warner Bros): $14.2M (-57%) – 3,682 theatres
3. I Can Only Imagine 2 (Lionsgate): $8.0M – 3,105 theatres
4. Crime 101 (Amazon MGM Studios): $5.7M – 3,161 theatres
5. Send Help (Disney): $4.5M (-49%) – 2,800 theatres
6. How to Make a Killing (A24): $3.5M – 1,625 theatres
7. EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert (NEON): $3.2M – 325 theatres
8. Solo Mio (Angel Studios): $2.5M (-60%) – 2,300 theatres
9. Zootopia 2 (Disney): $2.3M (-40%) – 1,820 theatres
10. Avatar: Fire and Ash (Disney): $1.8M (-49%) – 1,335 theatres

Source: Comscore