It’s the second largest February opening of all-time, fifth largest opening for an R-rated movie, it’s already the highest grossing President’s Day weekend release as well as the largest opening for a movie directed by a female, it is Fifty Shades of Grey, and it took in $81.6 million this Valentine’s/President’s Day weekend. Of course, critics weren’t very big fans and neither were those that went to see it as it could only muster up a “C+” CinemaScore. No matter, money talks here as Fifty Shades amassed over $239 million globally on its opening weekend, though I do have to wonder if this means anything at all for the sequels.
It appears director Sam Taylor-Johnson won’t be back after butting heads with novelist and co-writer E.L. James and it isn’t as if we’re talking about the same kind of fanbase Twilight was sporting. Okay, yes, they may be just as sexually frustrated, but they are clinging to different things. One good question will be to wonder if it will, however, follow in Twilight‘s shoes and go with a female director for the first one and hire men for the sequels. I guess we’ll know soon enough…
Coming in second is the movie targeting teenage boys, Kingsman: The Secret Service, with an estimated $35.6 million and a “B+” CinemaScore. I don’t know what else there is to say about this one other than this is rather impressive given it’s an R-rated film and maybe it will encourage studios to make a few of these R-rated actioners over the constant PG-13 twaddle (though, you could say Kingsman is pretty much R-rated twaddle, but I think you get my point). I doubt it, but whatever.
Jupiter Ascending didn’t crash too hard after its soft opening last weekend, dropping 48.7%, bringing in an estimated $9.4 million this weekend. Of course, that’s an awful number for the second weekend when your budget was $176 million, but hey, take what you can get.
No better is the $4.1 million for Seventh Son, which is only a 42.5% drop, but, again, a $95 million budget and a cume of only $13.4 million after two weekends isn’t ideal.
In its second weekend of release, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water faired a bit better than its sophomore counterparts, dropping 44%, but given its strong opening last weekend the $30.5 million it brought in this weekend contributes to a cume that is already over $100 million.
American Sniper continues to hold on strong, landing a fourth place finish, dropping only 29.4% in its fifth weekend of wide release as its domestic cume climbs to $304.1 million, more than double Clint Eastwood‘s previously highest grossing film, Gran Torino ($148 million).
Next weekend sees the release of Hot Tub Time Machine 2, McFarland, USA and The Duff and I’m wondering if any of them has a chance at the #1 spot. Of course, that matters on how far Fifty Shades drops. Back in 2010, Valentine’s Day opened to a solid $56.2 million on this same weekend only to drop 70.4% its second weekend. Are we looking at a similar scenario with Fifty?
