EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros/MRC’s theatrical release of Oscar winner Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights smooched $3 million from Thursday previews at 3,000 locations.
Before you comp the movie to the $7M previews for It Ends With Us (which opened to $50M), calm your jets. First, that was a summer release. Second, distribution sources are seeing a big pop for moviegoing on Saturday, Valentine’s Day, with a natural shift of foot traffic from last night to today, and into tomorrow. Let’s not forget the Monday Presidents Day holiday.
The last time Valentine’s Day fell on a Saturday was 11 years ago, when Fifty Shades of Grey opened to $93M over four days, with Kingsman: Secret Service in second place with $41M. I hear that there’s $14M in presales already for Wuthering Heights, which is eyeing $40M-$50M over the four-day holiday in North America. Reviews are fresh for Wuthering Heights, but at 65% on Rotten Tomatoes. It Ends With Us was 55% Rotten with critics, but 87% with moviegoers.
As we told you, Warner Bros scooped up rights to the Jacob Elordi-Margot Robbie feature take of the Emily Brontë novel for $80M, over Netflix’s $150M.
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Elsewhere last night, Sony Pictures Animation’s GOAT did $1M in Thursday previews starting at 2 p.m. from 3030 locations. The film has earned PostTrak ratings of 5-stars for kids under 12, 4.5-stars from both parents and general. Sony sees $20M over four days, but the town believes the lack of family product in the marketplace could push the start of the Stephen Curry production higher. GOAT is 80% fresh with critics. Before P&A, its cost was between $80M-$90M+.
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Meanwhile, Amazon MGM Studios’ Chris Hemsworth-Halle Berry-Mark Ruffalo-Barry Keoghan noir Crime 101 made $1M from overall previews, not just last night. The movie is hoping for a $15M four-day start. The Bart Layton-directed movie is 86% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The production cost $90M before P&A, we understand. Remember, Amazon MGM doesn’t go theatrical unless it can make back marketing costs; that’s the rule of thumb on its productions. Comps are Den of Thieves: Pantera ($1.35M previews, $15M opening), A Working Man ($1.1M previews, $15.5M opening) and The Beekeeper ($2.4M previews, $16.5M 3-day).
No Rotten Tomatoes audience scores for all three films.
How the week went:
- Send Help (20th) 3,475 theaters, Wk $13M (-50%), Total $38.9M/Wk 2
- Solo Mio (Angel) 3,052 theaters, Wk $10.5M/Wk 1
- Iron Lung (Cent) 2,916 theaters, Wk $9.2M (-48%), Total $34M/Wk 2
- Dracula (Vert) 2,050 theaters, Wk $6.0M/Wk 1
- Zootopia 2 (Dis) 2,715 theaters, Wk $5.1M (-30%), Total $415.6M/Wk 11
