'Fifty Shades of Grey' Lives Up to Weekend Hopes

Media

Published: February 16, 2015 8:30 am

Last Updated: April 27, 2020 9:22 pm

Universal Studios and Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) have scored the biggest international opening weekend ever for an R-rated movie with “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which posted ticket sales of an estimated $158 million in 58 worldwide markets in its first five days of release. U.S. box office is estimated at $81.7 million for the first three days of the President’s Day weekend.

The film raked in a U.S. total of $36.7 million on Valentine’s Day, a new record for the day, according to Box Office Mojo. Nearly a third of the film’s audience was male, a number that is virtually certain to tail off sharply and cap the U.S. box office at somewhere under $200 million.

Still, the movie did better than prognosticators thought it would after a strong but hardly massive Friday opening. “Fifty Shades of Grey” ranks second to “The Passion of the Christ” for an R-rated movie released in February and fifth all-time for any R-rated movie, behind “The Matrix Reloaded,” “American Sniper,” The Hangover Part II” and “The Passion of the Christ.”

“Kingsman: The Secret Service” posted an estimated three-day total of $35.6 million, slightly above estimates of around $32.5 million. For the four-day holiday weekend, the film is expected to tally more than $40 million, a nice surprise for Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ: FOXA). Worldwide, the comic book adaptation added an estimated $43.8 million.

“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” added an estimated $30.5 million on its second weekend and “American Sniper” posted receipts of $16.4 million on its fifth weekend in wide release. “SpongeBob,” from Paramount and Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB), is expected to post a two-week domestic total of $93.7 million and add $46.3 million internationally.

Time Warner Inc.’s (NYSE: TWX) Warner Bros. studio continues to ride a wave of viewers for “America Sniper,” which is expected to pass the $300 million mark domestically and add nearly $90 million more from international ticket sales.

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