Box Office: ‘GOAT’ Unseats ‘Wuthering Heights’ After Close Race for No. 1 in Glacial Weekend
#Box Office#GOAT movie#Wuthering Heights#Animated films#Family entertainment#North American cinema#Post-pandemic recovery
📌 Key Takeaways
'GOAT' claimed the No. 1 box office spot with $17 million from 3,863 theaters
'Wuthering Heights' finished second with $14.2 million from 3,682 venues
Family films continue to be crucial for cinema operators recovering from pandemic impacts
PG-rated offerings have shown remarkable endurance at the box office in 2025
📖 Full Retelling
Animated film 'GOAT,' about an animal aspiring to be a basketball champion, narrowly defeated the star-studded gothic romance 'Wuthering Heights' to claim the No. 1 spot at the North American box office during the late-February weekend of February 22, 2026, as family-oriented movies continue to provide crucial support for cinema operators still recovering from pandemic-induced box office fluctuations. 'GOAT' earned $17 million from 3,863 theaters, showing remarkable resilience with only a 36% drop from its opening weekend. 'Wuthering Heights,' featuring A-list actors Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, wasn't far behind with $14.2 million from 3,682 venues, though it experienced a steeper 57% decline from its debut performance. This close competition between the family animation and adult-oriented drama highlights the diverse audience segments still supporting theatrical releases. The victory for 'GOAT' underscores a continuing trend in the post-pandemic box office landscape where family films have demonstrated exceptional staying power, with similar PG-rated offerings like 'Lilo & Stitch,' 'Zootopia 2,' and 'A Minecraft Movie' ranking among the highest-grossing releases of 2025, suggesting that while the industry hasn't fully returned to pre-pandemic strength, family-oriented content remains a reliable draw for theaters rebuilding audiences and revenue streams.
🏷️ Themes
Box Office Performance, Family Entertainment, Post-Pandemic Recovery
Wuthering Heights is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two extensive upland estates and their landowning families on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons; and their turbulent relationships wi...
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is frequently used, especially in the context of the film industry,...
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby pictures are generated or manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognized as an artistic medium, spec...
Feb 22, 2026 8:04am PT Box Office: ‘GOAT’ Unseats ‘Wuthering Heights’ After Close Race for No. 1 in Glacial Weekend By Rebecca Rubin Plus Icon Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter rebeccaarubin Latest Box Office: ‘GOAT’ Unseats ‘Wuthering Heights’ After Close Race for No. 1 in Glacial Weekend 10 minutes ago AMC Theatres Won’t Screen AI Short Film ‘Thanksgiving Day’ That Sparked Online Outrage: We Will ‘Not Participate’ 3 days ago Will ‘GOAT’ or ‘I Can Only Imagine 2’ Topple ‘Wuthering Heights’ at Weekend Box Office? 3 days ago See All “ GOAT ,” an original animated film about an animal who aspires to be a basketball champion, trounced the box office competition in yet another glacial winter weekend. Heading into the late-February frame, “GOAT” and “ Wuthering Heights ” were closely contending for the No. 1 spot in North America. However, “GOAT” pulled ahead with $17 million from 3,863 theaters, declining just 36% from its debut. “Wuthering Heights” wasn’t far behind with $14.2 million from 3,682 venues, dropping 57% from its opening weekend. A first-place finish for “GOAT” over the starry gothic romantic drama, featuring A-listers Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, underscores the importance of family films for cinema operators at a time when the box office hasn’t yet regained its pre-pandemic strength. In 2025, PG offerings like “Lilo & Stitch,” “Zootopia 2” and “A Minecraft Movie” showed impressive endurance and ranked among the year’s highest-grossing releases. Related Stories Oscar-Nominated Composers Single Out One Magic Moment in Their Scores
