“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.
Those films towered over three newcomers, including Lionsgate’s faith-based “I Can Only Imagine 2,” Disney’s road-trip thriller “Psycho Killer” and A24’s black comedy “How to Make a Killing” with Glen Powell.
“I Can Only Imagine 2” captured the No. 3 spot with $8 million from 3,105 venues. Those ticket sales are dramatically behind its predecessor, 2018’s surprise hit “I Can Only Imagine,” which ignited to $17 million in North America. And although the sequel was twice as expensive at $18 million, it’s still a modest price tag that won’t be difficult for the studio to recoup during its big-screen run. Plus, audiences awarded the film, a sequel to the story about the musical artist who wrote the best-selling Christian song of all time, a rare “A+” grade on CinemaScore exit polls. The original movie, which also scored an “A+” grade, became a breakout for Lionsgate with $86 million worldwide against a $7 million budget.
“How to Make a Killing” debuted outside the top five — in sixth place with $3.5 million — however, the R-rated comedic thriller is playing on just 1,600 screens. Directed by John Patton Ford (“Emily the Criminal”), the film stars Powell as a man who is disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family and will stop at nothing to reclaim his $28 billion inheritance. There’s no audience score, but critics did not like “How to Make a Killing,” which holds a 47% on Rotten Tomatoes.
At No. 11, “Psycho Killer” cratered with $1.6 million from 1,100 theaters in its first weekend of release. The film, which hails from Disney’s 20th Century and New Regency labels, landed behind “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” which earned $1.7 million in its 10th weekend on the big screen. “Psycho Killer,” which doesn’t have an audience score either but was saddled with a 33% Rotten Tomatoes average, cost under $10 million to produce. Directed by Gavin Polone in his feature debut, the movie follows a police officer (Georgina Campbell) on her mission to take down the serial killer known as the Satanic Slasher after he brutally murdered her state trooper husband.
Neon’s concert film “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” debuted well above “Psycho Killer,” in seventh place with $3.2 million, during its limited release on 325 Imax screens. Director Baz Luhrmann crafted the film from never-before-seen footage of the King of Rock and Roll that he discovered while making the 2022 Austin Butler-led “Elvis” biopic. “EPiC,” which will expand in the coming weeks, is the only film in the top 10 that’s playing on less than 1,000 screens.
“We’re excited to see audiences connecting with ‘EPiC.’ It’s a powerful testament to the enduring impact of the King,” said Neon’s chief distribution officer Elissa Federoff. She pointed to the studio’s partners, including Sony Music Vision and Imax, who “helped deliver something deeply personal and undeniably cinematic — Elvis at his best, on the biggest screens possible.”
More to come…
variety.com
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