“Fifty Shades of Grey” made more history in its second weekend, but its not something Universal Pictures will be bragging about any time soon.
The adaptation of E.L. James novel earned another $23.2 million for a monstrous $130.1 million in just 10 days. Unfortunately, that also figures as a second weekend drop of 72.7% putting it in the top 40 plungers ever. Still, with a massive $410.6 million globally you can expect news on the sequel, “Fifty Shades Darker,” any day now.
20th Century Fox's “Kingsman: The Secret Service” had a much more palatable 51% drop taking in another $17.5 million for $67.1 million in less than two weeks. The Matthew Vaughn directed franchise starter has earned $153.5 million worldwide making it his second highest grossing film ever after “X-Men: First Class.”
“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” remained in third with another $15.5 million and $125.1 million to date. The Paramount Pictures release won't face any stiff family competition until Walt Disney's “Cinderella” opens on March 13.
“McFarland, USA” had a solid showing at no. 4 taking in $11.3 million. With a reported $17 million budget this true story drama will need to pull in at least $35 million domestic to break even. Having earned an A Cinemascore it certainly has a chance.
Rounding out the top five was CBS Films and Lionsgate's “The DUFF.” The High School comedy earned $11 million which was slightly above pre-release expectations. With a production budget of $8.5 million and little competition in its demo until it also faces “Cinderella, it has a great chance of becoming a nice moneymaker for CBS Films which produced it.
Debuting at no. 7 was Paramount Pictures and MGM's “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” which earned just $5.8 million. That was less than half of what pre-release polling indicated just a week ago.
With the Academy Awards airing this evening, here's a bonus rundown of where all of this year's nominees currently stand with their box office grosses both domestically and globally.
“American Sniper”
Domestic: $319.6 million
Global: $406.2 million
“Birdman”
Domestic: $37.7 million
Global: $76.5 million
“Boyhood”
Domestic: $25.2 million
Global: $19.1 million
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Domestic: $59.1 million
Global: $174.6 million
“The Imitation Game”
Domestic: $83.9 million
Global: $160.8 million
“Selma”
Domestic: $49.5 million
“The Theory of Everything”
Domestic: $34.1 million
Global: $104.1 million
“Whiplash”
Domestic: $11.3 million
Global: $12.2 million
New movies opening on Friday include “Focus” and “The Lazarus Effect.”
Final box office results will be released on Monday.