Chinese New Year helps ‘Pegasus 3’ to $152.2m at global box office; ‘Wuthering Heights’ down 48% after big debut

Worldwide box office: February 20-22

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

’Pegasus 3’ leads Chinese holiday contingent

Chinese films dominated the global box office this weekend after launching at the start of the Lunar New Year holiday on Tuesday (February 17). 

Pegasus 3 was by far the most powerful of the five new entrants, and it tops the weekend chart with a huge estimated take of $152.2m from China alone. That puts the car racing comedy drama’s total since Tuesday at $372.9, way ahead of the $256m lifetime total of 2019’s original Pegasus and well on the way to catching the $423m clocked by 2024’s Pegasus 2. 

The new sequel, distributed internationally by CMC Pictures, has director Han Han and star Shen Teng reuniting in a story that sees the franchise’s driver hero become the coach of a racing team competing in an international rally. Also starring are Andrew Yin, Huang Jingyu and Zhang Benyu. 

Taking second place on the chart is Blades Of The Guardians (known in China as Blades Of The Guardians: Wind Rises In The Desert), with an estimated weekend gross of $50.8m from eight territories – including $477,900 from North America, where Well Go distributes – for a global total so far of $101.6m. 

The comic book-based historical action film from Peace Film Production is directed by Yuen Woo-ping and stars Wu Jing, Jet Li and others in the tale of a mercenary whose escort mission across a harsh desert turns into a perilous adventure. 

Scare Out, from Raise The Red Lantern director Zhang Yimou, ranks third in the chart, with an estimated $41.5m for the weekend from six territories, for a running total of $112.4m. 

The Damai Entertainment thriller, about a Chinese intelligence breach and the task force charged with investigating it, stars Jackson Yee, Zhu Yilong, Song Jia, Lei Jiayin and Yang Mi. 

Entering the chart in fifth place is Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector, the twelfth feature installment of the animated Boonie Bears franchise spawned by a Chinese children’s TV series launched in 2012. The new family offering, from Fantawild Animation, grossed an estimated $35.7m over the weekend from two territories, for a total of $90.9m. 

The franchise’s highest-grossing feature so far has been 2024’s Boonie Bears: Time Twist, which took $60.8m in its first two days, on the way to a total of $251m. 

The weekend’s final Chinese release, Edko Films’ Hong Kong comedy Night King, lands in eighth spot with an estimated $12.1m from six markets, for a $14m total. Jack Ng directed and Dayo Wong and Sammi Cheng star – along with other names from Ng and Wong’s 2023 hit A Guilty Conscience – as the staff of a nightclub struggling to stay open amid an industry decline. 

’Wuthering Heights’ hangs on

The big performers from China leave Wuthering Heights, last weekend’s global leader, in fourth place on the chart, though the romance hung on relatively well in its second weekend. 

The film’s estimated global take of $40.5m from 77 markets was 48% down on last weekend’s opening and brought the total so far for the Warner Bros release to $151.7m. 

In North America, Wuthering was down 57% with $14.2m, for $60m to date. But in the international marketplace the drop was only 40%, with a weekend take of $26.3m, for $91.7m so far.

In the UK, home to the film’s literary inspiration and to director Emerald Fennell, Wuthering added $5.5m, down 47% from last weekend, for a $22.5m total. In Italy the drop was only 28%, to $3.1m, for a $9.4m total. In Australia, the take was off 38% to $2.7m, for $8.3m to date. And in Mexico, the returns were down down 28%, to $2.3m, for a $6.4m total. 

‘GOAT’ stays game

Also in its second weekend, GOAT stayed in the box office game with an estimated $34m weekend – taking it past the century mark to $102.3m so far – and some impressive holds, especially in international regions. 

Internationally, the Sony Pictures Animation family feature was down only 5%, to $17m from 51 markets (including nine new), for a $44m total. In North America the drop was 38%, to $17m, for a total of $58.3m. 

Among its new markets, the film opened at the top of the local chart in Germany with $2.2m. In the UK it was actually up 28%, with $3.8m, for a market total of $14.5m. And in France it was up 17%, with $1.4m for a $3m total. 

Upcoming openings include a March 14 launch in China. 

Mixed fortunes for ’The King’s Warden’ and ’Crime 101’

Fortunes were mixed for other recent releases in the global marketplace. 

South Korean historical drama The King’s Warden, which entered the chart last weekend, benefited from Lunar New Year celebrations in its home market and took an estimated $15.7m from three territories. That took its total after two-and-a-half weeks to $31m and pushed it up to seventh place on the weekend chart. 

American heist thriller Crime 101, which opened in third place last weekend, drops to tenth this weekend, with just under $12m from 76 territories, for $46.3m to date. 

Internationally, the Amazon MGM Studios release was down 51% with $6.2m, for a total of $21.6m. In the UK it slipped just 36% to $1.1m, for a $4.1m total so far. Market totals elsewhere include $2.5m from Australia, $1.4m from Germany and $1m from Spain. 

In North America, Crime 101 took an estimated $5.8m over the weekend, down 59%, for a total to date of $24.7m. 

Falling just outside the global top ten was I Can Only Imagine 2, which opened in North America with an estimated $8m from 3,105 locations. The Lionsgate inspirational drama, about a singer facing a personal crisis at the peak of his success, follows a 2018 predecessor that opened in North America with $17.1m and ended up with a worldwide total of $86.1m. 

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