It’s been a cold winter in the US as far as the box office is concerned. On the weekend of February 20-22, only one title clearly stood out. The animated film ‘GOAT’, centered on a small animal determined to become a sports star, comfortably dominated the rankings in a commercial landscape that is struggling to gain momentum, according to Variety. With $17 million grossed in 3,863 theaters, the film fell just 36% from its opening weekend, a performance that positions it as one of the most reliable family products of the moment.
The weekend’s big rival, “Wuthering Heights,” ultimately came in second in its second week after grossing $14.2 million in 3,682 theaters and suffering a more pronounced drop of 57%. Even so, the adaptation directed by Emerald Fennell is proving to be stronger internationally, where it has already grossed $91.7 million. With $59.5 million in the United States and a global total of $151.7 million, the film has comfortably exceeded its $80 million budget, although its decline in North America suggests a faster-than-expected decline.
Sony Pictures Animation is confident that ‘Goat’ will follow in the footsteps of other recent original productions, such as ‘Elemental’, ‘Robot Wild’ and ‘Migration: An Upside-Down Journey’, titles that managed to maintain steady momentum thanks to the support of family audiences. The film has already grossed $58.3 million in the United States and $102 million globally, figures that still need to grow considering a production cost of $80 million and the usual distribution of revenue between exhibitors and the studio.
Third place went to the religious film ‘I Can Only Imagine 2‘, which opened with $8 million in 3,105 theaters. However, this debut is far from the $17 million achieved by its predecessor in 2018, which ended up grossing $86 million worldwide. Third and fourth place went to ‘Escape Route’ and ‘Send Help’ respectively, grossing $5.77 million and $4.5 million and reaching $24.7 million and $55.5 million in North America.
Between Powell and Elvis
Off the podium, ‘How to Make a Killing’ landed in sixth place with $3.5 million, a modest figure explained in part by its limited presence in 1,600 theaters. The critical reception, with only 47% on Rotten Tomatoes, has also failed to boost this comedy thriller starring Glen Powell, who plays a disowned heir seeking to recover a huge fortune.
Behind it, ‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’ debuted in seventh place with a solid $3.2 million from just 325 IMAX theaters. This documentary montage directed by Baz Luhrmann and built from previously unseen material discovered during the production of ‘Elvis’ has generated interest among fans and will be expanded in the coming weeks.
With all this, Hollywood hopes to revive the market with several powerful releases, from ‘Scream 7’ next weekend followed by the Disney Pixar film ‘Hoppers’ and ‘The Bride!’ by director Maggie Gyllenhaal in March. This comes before Universal and Illumination’s ‘Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie’ is set to be the first big box office hit of 2026 in early April.
