Emerald Fennell’s new Wuthering Heights is the clear box‑office story of the weekend, opening No. 1 in North America with an estimated 34.8 million dollars over its first three days, the biggest debut of 2026 so far. Powered by women, Wuthering Heights “digs up 34.8 million dollars at the box office for a No. 1 debut,” according to ABC News.
Women are driving the turnout in a big way: studio polling suggests about 76% of ticket buyers were female, with Warner Bros. positioning the gothic, R‑rated romance as an “anti‑Valentine’s” counter‑programming play against lighter fare. The film is projected to hit around 40 million dollars domestically by the end of the four‑day Presidents Day frame and roughly 80–82 million dollars worldwide, after starting with about 3 million dollars from Thursday previews and strong overseas interest.
Critically, the movie is more divisive than its grosses suggest: it holds a mixed 63% score on Rotten Tomatoes and earned a B CinemaScore, and early audience surveys show only about half of opening‑weekend viewers saying they would “definitely recommend” it, raising questions about long‑term legs even as the opening shatters expectations for a dark literary adaptation.
