Emerald Fennell's adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights has stormed to the top of the UK box office, taking £7.7 million over its opening weekend. The film, which has divided critics, outperformed its North American debut, where it earned around $38 million. Typically, UK box office receipts account for 10-15% of US takings, making this a notable overperformance on home turf.
The film's strong showing may be partly due to its British roots. Shot in the Yorkshire Dales by a British female director and featuring a largely UK supporting cast, it benefited from pre-sales and Valentine's weekend demand. Despite lukewarm reviews, the film averaged £10,030 across 761 sites, surpassing the total UK box office of Fennell's previous film, Saltburn (£5.6 million), and last year's Materialists (£3.9 million).
Comparatively, Hamnet opened with £3 million and currently stands at £16.4 million, while The Housemaid started at £4.4 million and has reached £29 million. However, Wuthering Heights fell short of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, which earned £11.8 million over Valentine's weekend last year and finished with £46 million in the UK.
Warner Bros anticipates a significant drop in its second week, as most pre-release bookings were tied to Valentine's weekend. In the US, word-of-mouth is weaker, with only 51% of opening-weekend audiences saying they would 'definitely recommend' the film. Moviegoers gave it a B grade on CinemaScore. The UK box office also saw GOAT take second place with £2.2 million and Crime 101 third with £1.4 million.
