Comic book adaptation opens to $36.2 million at the North American box office, and is track to pass $100 million domestically.
Universal's Fifty Shades of Grey made box office history over the long Presidents Day weekend -- which also coincided with Valentine’s Day -- with a $94.4 million domestic debut, shattering several records and putting the film's global total at a massive $266.4 million through Monday.
That global tally includes $85 million for the three-day weekend, eclipsing the $83.8 million launch of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ ($83.8 million) to mark the biggest opening ever for the month of February, not accounting for inflation. It's also the biggest Valentine's Day/Presidents Day gross of all time, and the third largest opening ever for an R-rated title. (The record-holder is the R-rated The Matrix Reloaded, which posted a three-day debut of $91.8 million in 2003.)
Overseas, the E.L. James film adaptation directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan opened to a record-breaking $158 million from 58 markets -- the highest opening ever for an R-rated film, and the second largest for Universal following Fast & Furious 6 ($160.3 million). Made under a modest budget of $40 million, the film earned another $14 million on Monday for a foreign total of $172 million.
In second place, 20th Century Fox’s Kingsman: The Secret Service also had an impressive debut at the North American box office. Playing at 3,204 locations, the comic book adaptation opened to $36.2 million, which is in the same ballpark as recent action movies Taken 3 ($39.2 million) and The Equalizer ($34.1 million), and is on track to pass $100 million domestically.
Starring Colin Firth and Samuel L. Jackson, the $81 million R-rated action film also did well overseas, scoring an additional $23.1 million from 38 markets for a foreign total of $43.8 million and global tally of $85.6 million.
Following last weekend’s strong debut, Paramount and Nickelodeon’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water made an additional $31.7 million at the North American box office. The 2D/CG/live-action hybrid movie reached $100 million on Monday, and should ultimately reach $150 million before the end of its run. Overseas, The SpongeBob Movie added $13.5 million from 29 markets, pushing the film’s foreign total to $46.3 million for a global tally of $149.4 million. It had a solid $3.1 million debut in Russia; next weekend, the movie expands in to France, South Korea and Germany.
Now in its eighth week at the box office, Warner Bros. holdover American Sniper brought in $16.5 million, passing the $300 million mark on Monday to ultimately become the highest-grossing movie from 2014 with over $340 million.
The Wachowski’s Jupiter Ascending rounded out the top five with $9.2 million. The big-budget sci-fi space opera has so far earned $32.4 million at the domestic box office, and still has a shot at ultimately reaching $50 million. Overseas, Jupiter Ascending made an additional $15.6 million for distributors Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures, pushing the film’s foreign total to $58.9 million. With Australia, China and Japan still on the way, Jupiter Ascending has made an early total of $92.7 million worldwide.
Universal and Legendary Picture’s Seventh Son dropped to sixth place, finishing its sophomore weekend with $4.14 million for a domestic total of $13.4 million.
StudioCanal’s CG/live-action hybrid feature Paddington came in seventh place, adding $4 million over the long weekend for U.S. distributor The Weinstein Co. for a domestic total of $62.2 million. Overseas the family-friendly adventure has made a total of $154.2 million for a global tally of $217.8 million.
In eighth place, The Weinstein Co.’s The Imitation Game added $3.5 million in its 12th week at the domestic box office for a total of $79.6 million. The British drama, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, has made a total of $76.9 million overseas for a worldwide tally of $157.1 million.
Now in its fourth week out, Kevin Hart and Josh Gad's The Wedding Ringer made $3.2 million for a domestic total of $59.6 million and a ninth place finish. Screen Gems made the R-rated comedy for $23 million.
Rounding out the list at number 10 is Paramount’s found-footage film Project Almanac, which made $2.8 million on its third week at the box office for a domestic total of $19.6 million. Made for $12 million, the time travel movie was directed by Dean Israelite.
Box office numbers were obtained on boxofficemojo.com.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
