Fifty Shades of Grey Leads Presidents Day
Universal Pictures’ Fifty Shades of Grey lived up to the hype at the box office last weekend with a four day-day holiday start of $93.01 million. The highly anticipated erotic romantic drama opened in line with its pre-release expectations, which surged in the weeks leading up to the film’s release due in part to extremely strong pre-sales. Fifty Shades of Grey seized the record for the largest four-day Presidents Day weekend debut of all time; as it outpaced the $63.14 million four-day start of 2010’s Valentine’s Day by 47 percent.
With a three-day start of $85.17 million, Fifty Shades of Grey also claimed the largest opening weekend ever for the month of February without adjusting for ticket price inflation. The previous record holder was 2004’s The Passion of the Christ, which opened with $83.85 million. Fifty Shades of Grey also claimed the fourth largest R-rated three-day opening weekend of all-time behind only 2003’s The Matrix Reloaded, last month’s debut of American Sniper and 2011’s The Hangover Part II.
Twentieth Century Fox’s Kingsman: The Secret Service was off to a nice start of its own with a second place four-day take of $41.76 million. The Matthew Vaughn directed graphic novel adaptation starring Colin Firth exceeded expectations and likely received an added boost from serving as counter-programming for audiences not interested in Fifty Shades of Grey last weekend. Without adjusting for ticket price inflation, Kingsman claimed the seventh largest four-day Presidents Day weekend debut ever. It took in $36.21 million over the three-day period.
After the previous weekend’s stronger than expected debut, Paramount Pictures’ The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water fell two spots and 28 percent to claim third place over the four-day weekend with $40.01 million. While The SpongeBob Movie experienced a significant second weekend decline for a family film over Presidents Day weekend, it still continues to exceed expectations thanks to getting off to such a strong start. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water surpassed the $100 million mark on Monday and has grossed $103.14 million through 11 days of release. The three-day weekend take for The SpongeBob Movie was $31.46 million.
Warner Bros. Pictures’ American Sniper placed in fourth with a four-day take of $18.78 million. In the process the Clint Eastwood directed blockbuster starring Bradley Cooper surpassed the $300 million mark last weekend; making it just the third release of 2014 to do so. American Sniper was down 19 percent from the previous weekend, as the film continues to hold up well. The film has grossed a massive $306.48 million after 32 days of wide release and remains on course to become the highest grossing release of 2014. American Sniper took in $16.41 million over the three-day frame.
Fellow Warner Bros. release Jupiter Ascending rounded out the weekend’s top five with $10.76 million over the holiday. The expensive 3D sci-fi film from The Wachowskis starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis was down 41.5 percent from the previous weekend. Jupiter Ascending has grossed $33.88 million in 11 days, which is disappointing considering the film’s price tag. Jupiter Ascending grossed $9.25 million over the three-day period.
This Week | Last Week | Movie | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Weeks |
1 | N/A | Fifty Shades of Grey | $93.01M | $93.01M | 1 |
2 | N/A | Kingsman: The Secret Service | $41.76M | $41.76M | 1 |
3 | 1 | The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water | $40.00M | $103.14M | 2 |
4 | 2 | American Sniper | $18.78M | $306.49M | 8 |
5 | 3 | Jupiter Ascending | $10.76M | $33.88M | 2 |
6 | 6 | Paddington | $5.77M | $63.96M | 5 |
7 | 4 | Seventh Son | $4.84M | $14.11M | 2 |
8 | 8 | Imitation Game | $4.18M | $80.31M | 12 |
9 | 7 | The Wedding Ringer | $3.71M | $60.05M | 5 |
10 | 5 | Project Almanac | $3.30M | $20.13M | 3 |
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.