Judging by the response from audiences across the nation, Mr. Grey may need to give America's critics a spanking.
As expected “Fifty Shades of Grey,” ahem, dominated the box office on Friday pulling in a very impressive $30.2 million. That's barely the second biggest wide debut of the year after “American Sniper's” $30.3 million on Jan. 16. The Sam Taylor-Johnson drama has received mixed to negative reviews earning just a 47 on Metacritic and a paltry 27% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. That being said, “Fifty” is still expected to pull in $80-85 million over the four-day holiday weekend. With a reported $40 million production budget, “Fifty” is already a big winner for Universal.
Debuting in second place is Matthew Vaughn's “Kingsman: The Secret Service” with $10.5 million. That puts it on track for a $32-35 million four-day which is actually a stronger result for the 20th Century Fox release than pre-release polling indicated. “Kingsman” also looks like a legitimate hit although it needs to continue its strong early run overseas to make up its reported $81 million production cost.
Last weekend's no. 1, “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,” dropped to no. 3 with another $6.5 million and $69.6 million in just eight days.
“American Sniper” continued its stellar run in fourth with $3.8 million and $291.5 million so far. The Best Picture contender should cross the $300 million mark by Monday.
“Jupiter Ascending” rounded out the top five with another $2 million and $25.1 million to date.
Look for box office updates all weekend long on HitFix.