Gary Oldman’s $150M Period Drama Loses Box Office Rank to the Most Controversial Movie of 2026

4 days ago 10

Gary Oldman as Rosencrantz sits in the bath and plays with a toy boat in 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead' (1990)

Published Feb 23, 2026, 3:33 PM EST

Rohan Naahar is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Despite losing the domestic box office crown to the animated sleeper hit GOAT, director Emerald Fennell's controversial period romance film Wuthering Heights has passed another major milestone globally. Wuthering Heights opened to divisive reviews alongside GOAT last week and took the number one spot on the domestic leaderboard thanks, in part, to the controversy surrounding it. Critics felt that Fennell's gaudy adaptation misrepresents the themes of Emily Brontë's classic 19th-century novel. Others argued that Fennell is a bold visual stylist with a refreshing take on an oft-adapted story. Either way, the buzz was strong enough for Wuthering Heights to recoup its reported $80 million budget in one weekend alone. It has now nearly doubled that amount, and in doing so, passed another period drama at the box office.

With $60 million domestically and another $91 million from overseas markets, the film's cumulative global haul stands at $151 million. Wuthering Heights stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in the lead roles, with Shazad Latif and Alison Oliver in pivotal supporting parts. The movie's official Rotten Tomatoes score has dropped to 59%, with a consensus that reads, "Liberally adapting Emily Brontë's classic story with a heavy dose of carnality and chic stylization, Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights might not be the stuff of high literature, but it is a visually vibrant pleasure." The film's distribution rights were sold to Warner Bros. for a reported $80 million; Netflix reportedly offered $150 million, but the producers were determined to score a theatrical release. Hence, they opted for the lower bid.

Here's the Period Drama Overtaken at the Box Office by 'Wuthering Heights'

Wuthering Heights' $151 million global haul in 10 days puts it ahead of the $150 million that the movie Darkest Hour ended its run with in 2017. Directed by Joe Wright, the film served as a biopic of the late British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Darkest Hour earned star Gary Oldman the first Oscar of his career and received generally positive reviews. The movie holds an 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics' consensus reads, "Darkest Hour is held together by Gary Oldman's electrifying performance, which brings Winston Churchill to life even when the movie's narrative falters." Unlike Wuthering Heights, it was a rather conventionally told period drama that also featured Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn, and Kristin Scott Thomas. You can watch the movie at home while Wuthering Heights is available in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.