Family Film GOAT Tops Box Office in Quiet Weekend
In a weekend dominated by holdover releases, the family-friendly animated feature GOAT narrowly edged out the R-rated drama Wuthering Heights to claim the top spot at the North American box office. According to studio estimates released on Sunday, GOAT earned $17 million in its second weekend, while Warner Bros.' Wuthering Heights brought in $14.2 million.
Overall Slow Performance at Theaters
The broader box office landscape remained unusually quiet, with all new releases failing to cross the $10 million threshold. This applied to several anticipated films including:
- The faith-based sequel I Can Only Imagine 2
- Glen Powell's black comedy How to Make a Killing
- The horror film Psycho Killer, which currently holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
One notable bright spot emerged with Baz Luhrmann's immersive documentary EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, which generated an impressive $3.3 million from just 325 locations during its limited IMAX release. The film is scheduled to expand to nationwide distribution on February 27.
Detailed Performance of Top Contenders
GOAT demonstrated remarkable staying power, dropping only 38% from its opening weekend—a decline the studio attributes to strong positive word-of-mouth. The Stephen Curry-produced animated film, featuring Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin voicing a small goat with grand sports aspirations, has now accumulated $58.3 million domestically. Its global total stands at an impressive $102.3 million.
Meanwhile, Wuthering Heights experienced a steeper 57% decline from its debut weekend, bringing its domestic total to $60 million. The film added $26.3 million internationally, pushing its worldwide earnings to $151.7 million against an $80 million production budget. The United Kingdom remains its strongest international market, contributing $22.5 million alone.
Weekend Box Office Rankings
Third place went to Lionsgate and Kingdom Story's I Can Only Imagine 2, which opened with $8 million—significantly lower than the original film's $17 million debut in 2018, though still meeting expectations. The sequel earned a rare A+ CinemaScore from audiences.
The weekend's complete top five included:
- GOAT - $17 million
- Wuthering Heights - $14.2 million
- I Can Only Imagine 2 - $8 million
- Crime 101 - $5.8 million (down 59% in its second weekend)
- Send Help - $4.5 million
How to Make a Killing landed in sixth place with $3.6 million from 1,600 North American theaters. The black comedy starring Glen Powell as a man attempting to eliminate family members for a $28 billion inheritance received mixed reviews, earning a 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Notable Underperformers
The horror-thriller Psycho Killer performed particularly poorly, opening outside the top ten with just $1.6 million from 1,110 theaters. Directed by television and film producer Gavin Polone in his directorial debut, the film failed to connect with both critics and audiences—only 31% of ticket buyers indicated they would "definitely recommend" it according to PostTrak data.
Despite the slow weekend, the 2024 box office remains approximately 5% ahead of last year's pace. Industry observers anticipate increased activity when Scream 7 opens next weekend.
Complete Top Ten Domestic Box Office Results
Final domestic figures will be released Monday, but estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters according to Comscore show:
- 'GOAT' - $17 million
- 'Wuthering Heights' - $14.2 million
- 'I Can Only Imagine 2' - $8 million
- 'Crime 101' - $5.8 million
- 'Send Help' - $4.5 million
- 'How to Make a Killing' - $3.6 million
- 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert' - $3.3 million
- 'Solo Mio' - $2.6 million
- 'Zootopia 2' - $2.3 million
- 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' - $1.8 million



