Critics described Crime 101 as “slick” and “engrossing,” yet audiences have been slow to embrace the heist thriller starring Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry, and Mark Ruffalo.
The film opened in third place this weekend at the box office with a projected $15.1 million over three days and $17.8 million when the Presidents’ Day holiday is factored in, Comscore reported Sunday.
The Amazon MGM Studios release played in 3,161 locations, and earned a per theater average of $4,789.
Those numbers don’t seem bad on the surface. But when you factor in the appeal of the all-star cast and the film’s reported $90 million production budget, the math doesn’t exactly add up.
Set in Los Angeles, the thriller follows a thief (Hemsworth) with an eye for luxury items, as he plans his final score. He needs help and enlists a disillusioned insurance broker (Berry), who knows where to find high-end items.
Hemsworth’s thief has a history of pulling off heists along L.A.’s iconic 101 Freeway. But a relentless detective, played by Mark Ruffalo, is closing in. Barry Keoghan, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Monica Barbaro, and Nick Nolte also star.
Written and directed by Bart Layton, the film received positive reviews from critics and is “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 86% score.
“Crime 101 is a slick and successful crime thriller,” wrote Kristy Puchko of Mashable.
“With a star-studded cast and gorgeous cinematography, Crime 101 is a tense, stylish heist caper that leaves you wishing for even more — perhaps as a miniseries,” added Joseph Robinson of Fish Jelly Films.
Halle Berry described the thriller as “a throwback to those great movies of the past… like Collateral, Heat, The Thief,” in an interview on The Tonight Show.
But audiences were lukewarm and gave the thriller a “B” CinemaScore in exit polling.
While Crime 101 did not exactly make an arresting debut, it will likely find a wider audience when it begins streaming on Prime Video.
Perhaps with a bigger marketing push, it would have made a bigger splash in theaters.
Elsewhere this weekend, Wuthering Heights led the box office after taking in an estimated $34.8 million over three days and a projected $40.0 million for the 4-day frame, according to Comscore.
The steamy love story starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi was even more popular abroad, with $42 million internationally for a global haul of $82 million.
The film marked the 9th consecutive Warner Bros. release to open at No. 1. Although with a reported $80 million production budget, plus a high fashion global marketing campaign, it needs to bring in more loot to turn a profit.
Sony’s basketball-themed animal adventure GOAT debuted in second place with an estimated $26.0 million weekend total.
The film features an all-star cast that includes Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Stephen Curry, Patton Oswalt, Angel Reese, A’ja Wilson, Dwyane Wade, and Kevin Love in voice roles. Tyree Dillihay directed the film from a script by Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley. Curry was one of the producers.
As mentioned, Crime 101 took third place. The survival thriller Send Help was fourth, after earning another $8.9 million between Friday through Sunday in its third weekend.
The romantic comedy Solo Mio rounded out the top five with $6.4 million in its second weekend.
Below is the box office chart from Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends.
Check out @Comscore @csMoviesUS @CSGlobalMovies domestic box office Top 10 Estimates! Please note this weekend’s overall total 3-day Domestic box office is at an estimated $119.2 million & YTD 2026 now at $899.8M is up 8.1% vs. 2025. Ordinarily having a holiday fall on the… pic.twitter.com/HGQnPWII03
— Paul Dergarabedian (@PDergarabedian) February 15, 2026
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