Wuthering Heights at the Box Office: Surpassing RRR and Sparking Debate
After completing a full week of release in theaters worldwide, Emerald Fennell’s controversial new film Wuthering Heights has successfully doubled its $80 million production budget at the box office. The movie has received divisive reviews, with some questioning Fennell’s interpretation of Emily Brontë’s 19th-century novel, while others defend her vision as a refreshing take on the period drama genre.
Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, Wuthering Heights overtook two of Robbie’s recent period dramas – Amsterdam and Babylon – in its opening weekend. After 10 days in theaters globally, it has surpassed another notable film: S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR.
Box Office Success and Comparisons
With $60 million domestically and $92 million from overseas markets, Wuthering Heights’ cumulative global haul stands at $152 million. This puts it ahead of the $150 million earned by RRR in 2022. The epic historical action movie from India rode a wave of positive buzz and ultimately won a Best Original Song Oscar. RRR became the highest-grossing Indian film of that year and a word-of-mouth sensation in the United States.
Critical Reception and Cast
Wuthering Heights currently holds a 59% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus reading, “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.”
Jacob Elordi stars alongside Margot Robbie, who also serves as a producer on the film. Elordi recently earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars for his performance as “The Creature” in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. He gained recognition for his role in the Kissing Booth trilogy on Netflix and later starred in HBO’s Euphoria, a series that appears to have influenced the target audience for Wuthering Heights.
What’s Next for Rajamouli
S.S. Rajamouli is currently working on his next large-scale project, a film titled Varanasi, scheduled for release in 2027.
Wuthering Heights is currently playing in theaters.